The High Court in Makanda has set aside the decision to grant and renew exploration rights to Shell along the Wild Coast.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy says it is studying the judgment and will respond appropriately once it has taken advice from its legal representatives.
Environmental organisations have hailed the judgement as a victory for communities.
The Green Connection, an eco-justice organisation opposed to offshore oil and gas exploitation, says civil society, traditional communities and small-scale fishers have once again been vindicated by the courts.
Well done to our comrades for staying the course of this fight against Shell, to protect our oceans and the rights of those communities who will be affected.
Read more: Marine Protected Areas Day 2022
It has been a tense road for the small-scale fishers who took Shell to court, back in December 2021, in a bid to stop a marine seismic survey offshore of the Wild Coast.
In December 2021, local communities and environmental justice organisations took Shell to court, first to request an urgent interim interdict to stop the seismic testing the company had started in the Wild Coast, a few weeks earlier.
Then, in May 2022, the applicants were back, this time asking the court “to review and set aside the 2014 decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant an exploration right to Shell and Impact Africa to conduct seismic surveys off the ecologically sensitive Wild Coast of South Africa.”
According to The Green Connection’s Strategic Lead, Liziwe McDaid says once again ordinary South Africans have shown that the Constitution and what it stands for, will always win over decisions that are not in the public interest.
This victory is also a great message to the rest of Africa for African Climate Week, since our continent is experiencing an onslaught of offshore oil and gas proposals, which will have detrimental future impacts. And, if South Africa is serious about climate change, then we must halt all offshore oil and gas exploration, immediately. We hope that this court victory serves to signal a shift to the good governance of our oceans which is needed in the climate crisis we face.
Ntsindiso Nongcavu from Coastal Links Port St. Johns says they are against oil and gas drilling in the ocean.
This ruling, in our favour, means that our lives will carry on, as our livelihoods depend on fishing. We are happy that our plans have been fulfilled and our livelihoods have been secured, not just for us but for future generations. This outcome motivates us because our government pays no mind to its people, but instead seems to want to make foreign companies richer.
The spokesperson for the Amadiba Crisis Committee in Xolobeni Nonhle Mbuthuma says they chose not to go to court to listen to the ruling.
We decided to gather as the seven villages to listen to the ruling at The Great Place. We are very happy that the judgement is in favour of our community. This means that the planet wins because it has been saved. If the judgement had been in favour of Shell, then that means that the whole planet loses everything, because this case is not just about livelihoods. It is about saving the planet and humanity.
