Muizenberg residents during a protest in opposition to Shell’s plans for 3D seismic surveying along the Wild Coast. Environmental activists have hailed a landmark Constitutional Court ruling halting Shell’s controversial oil and gas exploration along the Eastern Cape's coastline.
Environmental activists have welcomed the historic Constitutional Court victory for communities in the Wild Coast against Shell that has stopped the multinational company’s oil and gas exploration programme in the area dead in its tracks.
IOL reported that the Concourt ruling overturned a 2024 Supreme Court of Appeal decision that had allowed Shell and consultant firm Impact Africa to continue with their offshore seismic testing along the Eastern Cape coastline while fixing what was wrong with the improperly obtained exploration right they were using.
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) Coordinator Desmond D’Sa said they “take great strength from that victory for the people of South Africa”. He said they now hoped Shell would go back and rethink its strategy and take into account the concerns of communities such as those of Xolobeni in the Eastern Cape.
“When Shell’s application came out, they were adamant that they did not have to consult the people of Xolobeni or the people of this country, the citizens of this country about their intention to develop an exploration well in the Indian ocean,” said D’Sa.
