NGOs, activists unite to oppose TotalEnergies’ offshore drilling

A full bench of the High Court in Cape Town will today continue hearing a review application by environmental activists and fishing communities opposing government’s environmental authorisation granted to TotalEnergies for oil and gas exploration off South Africa’s West Coast.

The applicants, including the Aukotowa Fisheries Cooperative, The Green Connection and Natural Justice, argue that the approval process was flawed and inconsistent with the National Environmental Management Act.

Small-scale fishers say planned drilling in the Deep Western Orange Basin could negatively affect marine ecosystems already under pressure from climate change.

One fisher says, “We as fishers cannot afford that they come and destroy our beautiful ocean because we have a lot of marine resources that we as fishers depend on, especially the snoek, you can see already that Namibia that is next to us, Port Nolloth, already from that oil and gas drilling that they done in Namibia, they have an impact on us as fishers.”

“It’s all about the department of minerals resources and energies making decisions without us,” he adds.

Calls to review the granting of oil and gas exploration rights