Constitutional Court halts offshore oil and gas exploration along Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast’

The Constitutional Court has halted offshore oil and gas exploration along Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast’ by multinational giants, Shell and Impact Africa Limited.

The matter has been in the courts since 2021, when an application to halt imminent seismic blasting by Shell uncovered that a separate company Impact Africa had gained the same licence in 2014 without “meaningful” community consultation.

This before transferring a fifty percent stake to shell.

By 2024, the Supreme Court of Appeal found the granting and renewal of permits was unlawful, but allowed for a third renewal application. 

The apex court on Friday pulled the plug on that arrangement, stressing the necessity of public participation to uphold human dignity and environmental protection.

Melissa Groenink speaks for advocacy group ‘Natural Justice’ “In setting aside shell’s exploration right, the court ultimately put people over profit and confirmed that those who are complicit in an unlawful process cannot gain an advantage from it.”