Activists to fight drilling off KZN coast
• Agency approves oil exploration ‘behind our backs’
Environmental lobby groups that oppose offshore exploration and drilling for oil and gas off SA’s coast say they will protest against the granting of permission to explore the waters off KwaZulu-Natal. /
Environmental lobby groups that oppose offshore exploration and drilling for oil and gas off SA’s coast say they will protest against the granting of permission to explore the waters off KwaZulu-Natal.
The Petroleum Agency of SA (Pasa), which acts on behalf of the government, has granted a permit to a joint venture of Italian oil giant Eni and Sasol to start exploring for gas and oil off the coast.
But environmental lobby groups are wary of the potential damage drilling would cause to the ecosystem.
They argue that damage to marine life and ensuing climate change would far outweigh the potential gains the promised 11billion barrels of oil would bring. It would also contribute an additional 3.9-billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, they argue.
The lobby groups have 31 working days to lodge an appeal. Environmental organisations under the umbrella Ocean Not Oil have begun an online petition and are enlisting the assistance of international environmental activists such as Greenpeace and others. They are also using the services of local and international geologists and environmental scientists to argue their case against the impending exploration.
In February 2019, Total announced the first significant deep-water oil find off the south Cape coast, estimated at 1-billion barrels of crude oil reserves.
The government wants to sink 30 exploration wells offshore in the next 10 years in a process driven and directed by the department of mineral resources & energy.
Eni will drill off the coast between Scottburgh and Port Shepstone in the south of KwaZulu-Natal and at the Richards Bay harbour in the north of the province.
Marilia Cioni, Eni’s regional external communication adviser, declined to comment on the process that was followed or when the company would start bringing the equipment on-site in preparation for exploration.
Lindiwe Mekwe, acting CEO of Pasa, told Business Day that proper and adequate processes, including consultation, were followed in respect of the exploration right application and environmental authorisation. Both have been granted by Pasa and endorsed by the department of minerals & energy.
But the environmental activists said that while public meetings were carried out, these were nothing more than a boxticking exercise and that their views were not taken into consideration in the final analysis.
Desmond de Sa, an environmental activist and head of the South Durban Community Environmental Association, said that during the current objection window period, they will petition President Cyril Ramaphosa, the departments of minerals & energy and environmental affairs as well as Pasa, Eni and Sasol to stop the exploration.
He said they will also mobilise people from south Durban and surrounding townships, as well as from Mtubatuba, Hluhluwe, Richards Bay, Empangeni, Mtunzini, Scottburgh, Umkomaas, Port Shepstone, Mtwalume, Umgababa, Port Edward and Margate to join the protest marches and pickets.
“We need thousands to appeal and make their voices heard. We urge everyone to take a stand and fight for our marine environment and the cascading effects of climate change.”
Israel Mbhele, chair of the KZN Subsistence Fishermen’s Forum, said the government and Pasa went behind their back to grant the permit.
SHAM CONSULTATION
“The consultation process was a sham. We knew this, but we went ahead and prepared our papers that proved clearly that whales, the fish, other marine life and even people were going to be affected.
“Despite all this, the government goes behind our back and grants permission. It is clear that the only language that this government hears is when people protest and burn things down,” Mbhele said.
SA Oil & Gas Alliance CEO Niall Kramer said there has been a significant increase in interest in drilling for oil and gas offshore in SA, especially after the February find by Total.
“But still, companies carrying out the exploration are taking huge financial risks. To drill one hole, it costs in the region of $150m. Until they have explored and got empirical evidence that there is oil or gas, they are merely taking a risk,” he said.
IT IS CLEAR THAT THE ONLY LANGUAGE THAT THIS GOVERNMENT HEARS IS WHEN PEOPLE PROTEST AND BURN THINGS DOWN