Green activists vow to oppose oil exploration

Environmental activists in KwaZulu-Natal say they will oppose further offshore oil and gas exploration, despite last week’s discovery of about a billion barrels of oil and gas off Mossel Bay on the southern Cape coast.

The environmentalists are on a collision course with giant oil companies that have already been given the go-ahead to do so in KwaZulu-Natal waters. Drilling for oil is expected to get under way from Kosi Bay to port Shepstone between April and September this year.

Sasol Africa and Italian oil giant Eni are among those already given exploration rights by the mineral resources department. They have made it known they intend to use their licences to explore and drill for oil and gas between Port Shepstone and Richards Bay as soon as possible. Thee companies are already mobilising equipment and hardware that will enable them to conduct the explorations and drilling.

On Thursday last week, Total, the French oil and gas company, announced that it had found gas condensate on the Brulpadda Prospects in the Outeniqua basin, about 175km off Cape south coast. Experts have predicted that this find alone will bring about R1-trillion in investment over the next 20 years.

Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe announced in December that the government has relaxed a moratorium on gas and oil exploration licences to allow exploration and production applications already in the system to be granted.

But the environmental activists said on Thursday that they will mobilise resources to counter the decision.

The activist organisations have petitioned the Petroleum Agency SA (Pasa), the government agency that grants licences and polices oil and gas exploration in the country.

Desmond d’Sa, the head of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, who is the leading member of a consortium of environmental organisations opposed to the drilling, said President Cyril Ramaphosa misled the National Assembly in his state of the nation address last Thursday when he said that the Cape gas condensate find was a “game-changer” that will lift the country out of the energy and investment crisis.

D’Sa said it will take SA up to 20 years before the first oil and gas is drilled and ready for consumption. “This so-called find is false because, first of all, the result of the exploration still has to be tested and assessed to see if it is valuable. Secondly, our organisations will not be taking government processes lying down,” d’Sa said.

“We will be on the watch to ensure that all legal processes leading up to drilling is followed and oppositions are adequately and fairly dealt with,” he said.

“We will not allow the government to grant go-aheads to drill without proper information and processes being put to the table and dealt with. Our lawyers are ready to engage the government processes, lodge appeals where possible and litigate to ensure the rights of our people are heard and protected.”

Michelle Pearson, head of marine animal protection group Second Chance Avian Rescue, said, “drilling for oil and gas is not a good idea, causing a lot of damage to marine birds and marine life in general”.

SA Oil & Gas Alliance CEO Niall Kramer said the government, oil and gas companies, communities and environmental organisations need to find common ground to ensure that mineral extraction is done in a manner that benefits all.

“SA needs to have a symmetrical and rational discussion about on-shore and offshore mineral exploration.”

Last week, Pasa said that it was buoyed by the announcement of the Total find and that there are good prospects other oil and gas finds lie deep under the seabed of SA’s waters.

Attempts to get comment from Lindiwe Mekwe, Pasa’s acting CEO, were unsuccessful.