No more Shell monopoly in South Africa, orders court

Last updated on December 29th, 2021 at 01:21 pm

South Africa – Shell is known to be a big shark in the petroleum industry so much so that it is known to mint money by mooching people and smaller businesses.

It is also known to have impacted the environment in the cruelest form but as it started to spread its wings in South Africa, the court ordered a block on the oil exploration. The country’s court ruled that Shell can no longer go ahead with its seismic testing for oil and gas.

The decision has been appreciated by many environmentalists and human rights groups so that it is prohibited to play with the environment. The decision was however condemned by South Africa’s Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe who also had earlier criticized those who gave tough remarks on Shell’s ambitions.

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The High Court also said that it only agreed to let Shell explore the waters near the Wild Coast as they had a “substantially flawed consultation process.” The main issue is the area that Shell is looking to target. The 250km stretch where Shell wants to explore waters is filled with natural beauty and marine life.

Tampering with nature will deeply impact the living conditions of the ethnic group. The campaigners have also argued that if Shell continues with its ambitions, many of the sea creatures such as whales, dolphins, and seals would be affected by the seismic testing.

One of the local campaigners, Nonhle Mbuthuma, said, “As coastal communities, we have relied on the sea for centuries – and we are glad that the judge has recognized that our ocean livelihoods must not be sacrificed for short term profit.” The communities have recently started to bring out the businesses which have been impacting the environment negatively and it is breaching the customary rights to the land and even the rights to fishing has not been respected.