Court sets aside Shell gas exploration rights

The high court in Makhanda on Thursday ruled that Shell’s exploration right to conduct seismic surveys on the Wild Coast of South Africa was granted unlawfully and has set it aside.

The case sought to review the decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to grant an exploration right to Shell and Impact Africa, allowing them to conduct seismic surveys in pursuit of oil and gas.

The judgment found that there had been no meaningful consultations with the affected communities.

“Meaningful consultations consist not in the ticking of a checklist, but in engaging in a genuine, bona fide substantive two-way process aimed at achieving, as far as possible, consensus,” the judgment reads.

The department said it is still studying the judgment.