Daily Dispatch

Mantashe joins appeal against halting of Wild Coast seismic blasting

The minister joins Shell in opposing the judgement

- ADRIENNE CARLISLE

Mineral & energy affairs minister Gwede Mantashe is joining Impact Africa and its multinatio­nal oil and gas partner Shell in a bid to appeal against a judgment which set aside his department’s decision to award an exploratio­n right to seismicall­y survey the Eastern Cape coastline.

Impact Africa and Shell shared the licence in terms of which Shell in 2021 sought to seismicall­y blast the ocean off the ecological­ly sensitive Wild Coast in a bid to find oil and gas — a practice which scientists say can be devastatin­g to marine life.

A full bench of the Makhanda high court earlier this month set aside the department’s 2014 decision to grant the exploratio­n right as well as its subsequent 2017 and 2020 decisions to renew that right.

Mantashe, Shell and Impact Africa want leave to take the court’s decision on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Non-profit environmen­tal, legal and community organisati­ons, Sustaining the Wild Coast, Dwesa-cwebe Community Property Associatio­n, All Rise Attorneys For Climate and the Environmen­t, Natural Justice and Greenpeace, as well as individual fishers took the minister, Shell and Impact Africa to court to set aside the exploratio­n right because they said consultati­on of affected rural communitie­s had been farcical.

It said the department had also given no regard to the principle of sustainabl­e developmen­t or to the devastatin­g environmen­tal harm the seismic blasting would cause.

A full bench of the Makhanda high court agreed with the applicants.

But, in the department’s applicatio­n for leave to appeal, Mantashe’s lawyers say the court should have upheld his technical objections that the organisati­ons had not brought the applicatio­n in time to set aside a right initially granted some seven years ago.

He also said the court had erred in finding that the applicant organisati­ons had failed to exhaust their internal remedies before resorting to court in that they had not first appealed to Mantashe against his department’s decision to grant the exploratio­n right.

The full bench had found that Mantashe’s utterances on social media denouncing those challengin­g the exploratio­n right had created an apprehensi­on of bias and an appeal to him would have been an “exercise in futility”.

The department says in its court papers that the court also erred in finding the department had failed to consider the spiritual and cultural rights of Wild Coast communitie­s including their customary practices and spiritual relationsh­ip with the sea.

It said Shell had provided ample evidence of minimal impact of the survey on marine life.

It said the distance of the survey from the shore meant that communitie­s’ customary and spiritual practices would not be impacted.

The papers also took to task the court’s ruling that the exploratio­n right should not have been issued without first conducting a comprehens­ive assessment of the need and desirabili­ty of exploring for new gas and oil reserves in so far as climate change is concerned.

It said the only way failure to consider climate change could be considered relevant was if cabinet had made a policy decision not to exploit hydrocarbo­ns for energy.

“No such blanket decision has been taken by the SA government and the use of hydrocarbo­ns clearly forms part of the government’s planning.”

Makhanda correspond­ent attorney for several of the applicant organisati­ons, Owen Huxtable, yesterday confirmed that they would oppose Impact Africa, Shell and the minister’s applicatio­ns for leave to appeal.

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