Cape Town - This Thursday, the much anticipated outcome for the the legal challenge to stop Shell’s planned seismic blasting off the Wild Coast of South Africa will finally be handed down in the Makhanda High Court.
The applicants seek to review and set aside the 2014 decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant an exploration right to Shell and Impact Africa to conduct seismic surveys off the Wild Coast of South Africa.
The case was brought by Sustaining the Wild Coast NPC, Wild Coast communities, Wild Coast small-scale fishers, and All Rise Attorneys for Climate and the Environment, represented by the Legal Resources Centre and Richard Spoor Attorneys. Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa applied to join the case, represented by environmental law firm, Cullinan and Associates.
Shell argued that it should not be obliged to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA) as an EIA was not a legal requirement when it applied for this permit in 2013.
While the applicants argue that the survey will cause serious and irreversible harm to the marine environment and call for a strict application of the precautionary principle: Shell should be required to conduct an environmental impact assessment, based on the best available science, which they say has advanced considerably since Shell’s permit was granted in 2014.
The relief sought, as amended, includes the review and setting aside of 1) the DMRE’s decision to grant the Exploration Right to Impact Africa in April 2014, 2) the DMRE’s decisions to renew the exploration right in December 2017 and August 2021, and 3) a final interdict prohibiting Shell from undertaking seismic survey operations under the exploration right.
Proceedings will start on Thursday morning following a two-day hearing, held on May 30 and 31, 2022.
Cape Times