A South African court heard arguments Tuesday from coastal communities, NGOs and British oil and gas giant Shell on whether the multinational should be allowed to proceed with offshore exploration on the country’s Wild Coast. The hearing was accompanied by protests against marine oil and gas exploration across the country.
The case goes back to 2014, when South Africa’s minister of mineral resources granted Impact Africa, the local subsidiary of U.K.-based Impact Oil and Gas, the right to conduct a seismic survey off the Wild Coast, a stretch of coastline in the Eastern Cape province. The region is the traditional home of the Mpondo people whose coastal communities rely on the ocean for livelihoods and spiritual practices. Shell later acquired a 50% working right in the exploration permit.
In 2021, Wild Coast communities, small-scale fishers and environmental and human rights organizations approached the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court arguing that the minister had failed to ensure that communities were adequately consulted and that seismic surveys could disrupt marine ecosystems as well as the communities’ cultural connection to the ocean. The judge in 2022 agreed and ruled the exploration right unlawful.
After Shell and Impact Africa appealed the ruling, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in May 2024 suspended the high court’s judgment and directed that the companies be allowed to renew the exploration right.
At the Constitutional Court earlier this week, communities and NGOs appealed the SCA’s decision. Arguments centered on whether a proper public consultation process should be conducted during the renewal process of the existing exploration right or whether it would require an entirely new exploration right application.
“We want them to have an environmental authorization, which requires that they engage with us before they’ve started. We want them to follow the law; that was the main bone of contention which was being argued,” community leader Sinegugu Zukulu told Mongabay. “We as Indigenous people want to keep our right to say no when we don’t want that particular development that they have proposed.”
Representing the coastal communities, NGOs Greenpeace Africa and Natural Justice argued that the SCA’s ruling violates procedural fairness. “We argue the SCA order is incompetent, rendering it neither just nor equitable, and nullifies communities’ rights to procedural fairness,” advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing Greenpeace, said before the judges.
Natural Justice’s program manager Melissa Groenink-Groves told Mongabay that it’s “the first time the rights of fishers have been brought before the Constitutional Court, and that is huge.” She added that this case represents not just the applicant communities’ struggle, but also of those affected by the extractive industries across the country.
The Constitutional Court’s decision is expected before the year’s end. If the communities’ challenge is successful, Shell will need to reapply for exploration rights following a proper consultation process.
Banner Image: Community members from the Wild Coast in Johannesburg protesting outside the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. Image courtesy of Natural Justice.
