Wild Coast communities and environmental organisations battle it out against energy multinational, Shell, at the Supreme Court today, the 16th September until Wednesday, the 17th.
They want the Court of Appeal (SCA), to disallow Shell’s oil and gas seismic surveys, off the Wild Coast.
The court case dates back as far as December 2021, when a coalition of environmental organisations approached the High Court, to stop seismic surveys off the Wild Coast.
In 2022, the High Court ruled in favour of environmentalists, and deemed the right unlawful, pausing seismic exploration. But last year in May, the SCA granted Shell the opportunity to renew its exploration right.
Today the coalition is back in court, made up of the Sustaining the Wild Coast, communities, small-scale fishers and All Rise Attorneys, represented by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and Richard Spoor Incorporated. Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa are represented by environmental law firm, Cullinan and Associates.
The Wild Coast communities and environmental justice organisations say the SCA order, violates the Constitution and does not give effect to the rights of the communities and other parties to fair administrative action, nor the communities’ livelihoods and their cultural and spiritual rights, protected under the Constitution. They say the order also fails to provide clarity on what Shell and the Minister must do to remedy the defects of the earlier processes.
Melissa Groenink-Groves of Natural Justice, said “this case is about more than oil and gas. It’s a case about communities along the Wild Coast standing together, standing strong, resisting a future that harms their livelihoods, that harms our collective climate and harms future generations. We trust that the highest court in the country, will put people over profit, vindicating their Constitutional rights.”
Picture: Supplied