Sunday Tribune

Wild Coast folk fight Shell in court

NATHAN CRAIG nathan.craig@inl.co.za

IF MULTI-NATIONAL oil and gas giant Shell were to go ahead with their exploration of the ocean off the Wild Coast, the nearby community dependent for their livelihoods on marine life would result in unemployment and hungry families.

However, in a bid for survival, rural Eastern Cape residents would go headto-head with Shell in the Makhanda High Court (previously Grahamstown) on December 14.

Sustaining the Wild, Mashona Wetu Dlamini, Dwesa-cwebe Communal Property Association, Ntsindiso Nongcavu, Sazise Maxwell Pekayo, Cameron Thorpe and All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice made their urgent application this week.

This would be the second court case against the company, the first of which Shell emerged victorious from on Friday in the Makhanda High Court. The applicants were the Border Deep Sea Angling Association, Kei Mouth Ski Boat Club, Natural Justice and Greenpeace.

Acting High Court Judge Avinash Govindjee dismissed their application with costs to interdict Shell’s seismic survey, to be conducted between December and February, with costs.

Govindjee ruled that while the public interest in the case was palpable, the legal litmus test of determining whether there would be “irreparable harm” was unsuccessful.

Speaking of their court battle, Reinford Sinegugu Zikhulu, the director of Sustaining the Wild, said there was a strong need to protect their land and sea. Zikhulu lives in the Baleni village that forms part of the Amadiba Traditional Community. “Our ancestors spilt blood to protect the land and sea of our homes, and the need to do so for future generations was strong. The land and sea are central to our livelihoods. The National Environmental Management Act gives us the right to fight, but now Shell wants to blast our seas every 10 seconds for five months for profits, while destroying our lives and the planet,” he said.

Zikhulu said they collected mussels, limpets, oysters, crayfish, King Fish, Gar

Zikhulu said they collected mussels, limpets, oysters, crayfish, king fish, garrick, kob and shad, which put food on their tables in both the literal and financial sense, as they would sell their catches of the day.

Traditional healer Mashona Wetu Dlamini lives in Sigidi village that forms part of the Amadiba Traditional Community and represents the traditional healers of the Wild Coast.

“The sea is sacred to us and we fear that our ancestors would be disturbed,” Dlamini said.

The Dwesa-cwebe Communal Property Association was made up of seven fishing villages; Mendwane, Hobeni, Cwebe, Ngoma, Ntlangano, Mpume and Ntubeni.

Mncedia Mhangala, a representative of the seven fishing villages, said they feared how the seismic survey would threaten the marine and ecological life of the sea.

“Our lives are dependent on the sea: our fishing is sustainable, but the socio-economic damage that would accompany the survey would be disastrous,” Mhlangala said.

Ntsindiso Nongcavu, a Port St Johns angler, and chairperson of Coastal Links Eastern Cape, has been fishing in the sea since the age of 12.

“My parents and grandparents would fish. I fear the blasts would kill the sea life or force those who survive to migrate and leave us stranded. When large and noisy vessels dock nearby our village, the sea becomes bare as the marine life flees,” said Nongcavu.

Shell could not be reached for comment, however, following Friday’s judgment, Shell spokesperson Pam Ntaka welcomed the dismissal of the first interdict.

Meanwhile, Lihle Mbokazi from All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice said public participation was vital for any National Environmental Management Act authorisation, whereas the communities have alleged they were not consulted.

“Engagement would have resulted in less outrage and more focus on the community, as well as mitigation processes for added credibility, or the project could have not been greenlit. The lack of environmental impact assessment processes has bred mistrust,” said Mbokazi.

Albi Modise, spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, said they noted concerns about the seismic surveys, but they were not mandated to consider the application or to make authorisation decisions.

The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources acknowledged media requests, but did not respond by publication deadline.

On Sunday protesters would embark on a large-scale protest and placard demonstration across the country in protest against the seismic survey.

Prathna Singh, one of the Durban protest organisers, said it would be the country’s biggest beach protest with over 65 locations as well as international protests in the Netherlands and UK. “It is for the people, by the people, in solidarity with our communities and for our environment,” Singh said.

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2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

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