Environmentalists, small-scale fishers and other concerned citizens in South Africa view the recent authorizations granted for oil and gas prospecting off the coast as a betrayal of environmental and climate justice, as expressed in a Press Statement released earlier this month.
For those in South Africa concerned with issues relating to oceans, fisheries and the environment, the last few days of September, ahead of the start of Marine Month, have been particularly troubling. In a Press Statement, dated 01 October 2023, representatives of organizations of subsistence fisherfolk, fishing co-operatives and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have expressed shock and disbelief at the manner in which two oil and gas prospecting authorizations have been granted.
In the first instance, the French-owned company, TotalEnergies, with partners Shell and
PetroSA, have applied, and been granted, environmental authorization by the Department of
Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), to drill up to five oil wells 60 km off Cape Point.
In the second instance, environmental authorisation has been granted by the Department for a seismic survey off the West Coast, against which small-scale fishers had succeeded in getting an interdict to stop Searcher, the foreign company, from conducting the survey last year.
In the first case, relating to the TotalEnergies project, indigenous coastal communities and small-scale fishers, individual researchers, scientists, business persons, NGOs, academics, members of the public and the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning had appealed the authorization. Despite 17 different grounds for appeal, the Minister of
Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment dismissed the appeals. The environmental authorization was confirmed on the same conditions as stated in the original approval by DMRE, with one caveat: The company has been instructed to employ a liaison officer to address any questions and concerns that small-scale fishers and their communities may have.
Despite the UN Secretary General urging all countries to stop fossil fuel extraction in order to avoid climate ‘catastrophe’ as “We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open” (news.un.org 15 June 2023), despite all best available scientific information from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and in a country still reeling from recent extreme weather events, resulting in an estimated 480 deaths, the authorities in South Africa apparently see no need to adopt a precautionary approach.
South Africa has been listed as one of the 12 highest carbon emitters in the world, the burden of which falls most heavily on the poor.
The judgement of the Makhanda High Court in the case of Shell states that an application must consider exploration and production as discrete stages in a single process that culminates in the production and combustion of oil and gas, and the emission of greenhouse gasses.
In 1994 an oil spill on the west coast of South Africa from the MV Apollo Sea resulted in the deaths of about 10,000 penguins. In 2000 the sinking of the bulk oil carrier Treasure resulted in approximately 20,250 penguins being covered in oil, of which 2,000 died and approximately 19,500 had to be relocated.
The authorities in South Africa recently drastically curbed fishing in areas near penguin colonies, apparently to protect penguins from extinction. However, they seem to show complete disregard for the expert scientists’ concerns that oil and gas exploration may put penguins and other marine
mammals and fish at risk. On the contrary, a welcome mat seems to have been laid out for
foreign energy companies in what can only be described as a complete greenwashing exercise.
It was recently announced that a 30×30 campaign for marine protected areas is being embarked upon in order to protect our marine environment (aiming for declaring 30 per cent of our ocean as
‘protected areas’ by 2030). But concerned citizens wonder whether this nod at marine protection and conservation is just a smokescreen so that oil and gas extraction can continue at a fast pace in the rest of the ocean.
All along our coastline, fishers and coastal communities have been leading the resistance to offshore oil and gas exploration. As the resistance of communities towards oil and gas extraction is increasingly being characterized as ‘anti-development’, we have grown to expect anti-community fossil foolishness but to be betrayed by the authorities in this manner is deeply painful.
In the face of these facts, we wonder: what hope is there for environmental and climate justice in South Africa?
Signatories:
Aukotowa fishers Co-operative, Port Nolloth
Noyakana Fishing Primary Co-operative
KZN Subsistence Fisher Folks
Coastal Links KZN
South African Fishers Collective
Eastern Cape Khoisan Primary Fishing Co-operative
Mamre Enterprises SSF Co-operative
Chascavu Fishing Primary Co-operative
Moeggesukkel Visserye Co-operative Ltd
Coldstorm SSF co-operative
Elinye SSF co-operative
Kei-Mor Fishing Primary Co-operative
Chief Brendon Billings
Kiwane Fishing Primary Co-operative
Siyaphambili Primary Co-operative
Msikaba Mouth Primary Fishing Co-operative
Koukamma Fishing Primary Co-operative
Ekuphumleni Kenton-on-Sea Fisheries Co-operative
Umlibo Fishing Primary Co-operative
Benton Fishing Primary Co-operative
Marselle Primary Fisheries Co-operative
Siyazama Primary Fisheries Co-operative
Eastern Cape Black Fisheries Co-operative
Buffeljagsbaai SeaWhale Co-operative
Blinkwaters Co-operative
Veldrift Small-scale Fishers Cooperative
Kleinmond Protea Small-scale Fishers Co-operative
Arniston/Waenshuiskrans Kleinskaalse Visserye Primary Co-operative
South Durban Community Environmental Alliance
Masifundise Development Trust
Coastal Justice Network
Contact details:
Coastal Justice Network (jackiesunde25@gmail.com)