South Africa: justice suspends Shell's seismic exploration project
A drilling platform from the Anglo-Dutch company Shell.
AFP PHOTO / TIM EXTON
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
A South African court put a stop this Tuesday, December 28 to the project of the energy giant Shell.
Justice ruled in favor of local communities and environmental organizations who had lodged an appeal against seismic exploration off the “Wild Coast”, the coast which opens onto the Indian Ocean and which shelters marine protected areas.
The threat to wildlife has been taken into account.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Johannesburg,
Claire Bargelès
The Grahamstown court ruling was handed down in two points.
First, the judge considered that Shell had not fulfilled its obligation to consult and educate the populations who hold fishing rights.
The court also recognized the special spiritual and cultural link that the populations of the “Wild Coast” have with the ocean.
Second, the courts have banned Shell's seismic exploration until an environmental permit has been issued under the Environmental Management Act.
Victory!
A milestone in our fight for healthy oceans and a sustainable and equitable future.
Communities have rights to object to the destruction and exploitation of our national environments!
#tohellwithshell # stopshell # OceansNotOil # SaveTheWildCoasthttps: //t.co/HqW3h2coEW
- Extinction Rebellion Cape Town (@CtxRebellion) December 28, 2021
The project had already been launched in early December.
It consists of sending seismic waves every ten seconds to probe the waters off the east coast of South Africa, in search of hydrocarbons, and especially gas.
"
The sector they are exploring is not very far from the Mozambican gas zones,"
explains economist Azar Jammine
.
And on the other side, it's a few thousand miles from where gas was discovered in South Africa.
So they clearly think there is an opportunity here.
"
"It doesn't matter how much money is brought into the country"
Environmental groups had failed,
during a first appeal
, to stop the project, for lack of evidence of the consequences of the waves on marine life.
But exploration must now be immediately and temporarily suspended.
"
It's really a major victory,"
says Wilmien Wicomb, one of the lawyers who defended the case
.
The court tells us that no matter how much money is brought into the country, if the constitutional rights of these fishing communities are ignored, everything must be stopped, and no economic gain can surpass that.
"
Local organizations are happy.
Shell assures that it will respect this decision but has not yet specified whether it will appeal.
The court has yet to rule on whether or not the Anglo-Dutch multinational is obliged to carry out more in-depth environmental impact studies before a possible resumption of exploration, which is supposed to last around five months.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
South Africa
Energies
Raw materials
Environment
Oceans