Mineral resources & energy Minister Gwede Mantashe accused opponents of Shell’s planned seismic survey off the Wild Coast of mounting “unrelenting attacks” on the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, which could deter investment in the country.
The company’s planned survey, which has prompted various protests across the country and a legal challenge, was approved by former energy minister Ngoako Ramathlodi in 2014.
Global attention has since increasingly focused on the environment and climate change culminating in the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November. Various fund managers and sovereign funds have withdrawn planned investment in fossil fuels, while banks and financiers are becoming increasingly reluctant to fund such projects.
Mantashe said an independent audit of the project’s environmental impact was conducted in 2020 and the findings were shared with all interested parties and no objections were received.
He also questioned the motives for the protests. “Could it be possible that this is an extreme pure love for the environment or an unrelenting campaign to ensure that Africa and South Africa do not see the investment inflows they need?”
There was “no conclusive evidence and/or scientific research globally that demonstrates that seismic surveys have caused irreparable harm to marine life, including mammals and fish,” Mantashe said.
Climate change lobby groups, including Greenpeace, the Border Deep Sea Angling Association (BDSAA) and the Kei Mouth Ski Boat Club last week failed in a bid to halt the project after the Makhanda High Court ruled they had failed to provide sufficient evidence that the seismic survey would cause irreparable environmental harm.
Still, the dispute carries potential reputational risk for the oil company, which last week was forced to abandon a plan to develop an oilfield off the Scottish coast.
Mantashe said the project — it involves firing shock waves underwater and into the seabed — is expected to contribute to SA’s economy, which has shed more than 1-million jobs since 2020 and has an unemployment rate of almost 35%.
“Let’s not be an island of anti-development in SA. We must be part of the world and play in the level field like everyone else,” he said. “SA’s economic development is oppressed in the name of environmental protection when we have environmental framework that ensures that licensing is done with the utmost environmental care.”
A successful survey could ease SA’s reliance on coal to meet its energy demands as the country moves to a “lower carbon economy as it has been scientifically proven that it [oil and gas] has lower emissions than other combustible fuels,” Mantashe said.
Melita Steele, Greenpeace Africa’s interim programme manager said approval for the survey “is a clear case of putting profits before people”.
“SA scientists have made it clear that there is a growing body of evidence that points to the harms that seismic blasting can cause for marine mammals, from whales to plankton and we know that there will also be negative impacts on the communities who live along the Wild Coast.”
It's not the first time Mantashe has found himself at odds with Eastern Cape communities over activities by international companies on their land. In 2019, he faced criticism from the Xolobeni community after saying he intended to appeal a court ruling that his department first get approval from the local community before any mining exploration permits were awarded. The area is rich in titanium and was targeted by an Australian company.
Mantashe said at the time the ruling risked handing over licensing in the mining sector from the state to communities, which he believed was potentially chaotic.
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