Saving the Wild Coast: Challenging Shell’s seismic surveys
Natural Justice joins court action against Shell’s seismic testing off the Wild Coast
An ongoing legal battle, that some have labelled a “David and Goliath” story, will be heading to South Africa’s Constitutional Court in September.
With support from civil society organisations, communities along South Africa’s eastern coast have, for the last four years, persevered with court action against government and oil company, Shell, in defence of their constitutional right to live in a clean and healthy environment. These communities are determined to stop Shell and Impact Africa from searching and drilling for oil and gas in the ocean.
The court case was previously heard in the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the matter will be heard in the Constitutional Court on 16 and 17 September 2025. In the SCA, the court’s judgment allowed that the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy could still decide on the renewal of the right to explore for oil and gas – which had been renewed twice before. It did, however, find that the exploration right was granted unlawfully.
The Constitutional Court has the final say. The arguments will focus on a portion of the SCA judgment which gives Shell and Impact a chance to renew the exploration right, which the applicant communities and civil society organisations argue is not “just and equitable”. The applicants believe that the judgment impacts the affected communities’ constitutional rights.
This Constitutional Court hearing will be momentous for the future of coastal and small-scale fishing communities. It could protect the Wild Coast. It will set a precedent that could shape a future where developers and those in authority tasked with protecting our constitutional rights, will have to take consideration of the voices of those communities most affected by their decisions and policies.
“The ocean is a commonage for all of us. It is sacred to us and we use it for rituals. Extractivism and oil exploration hinders our right to practise our religion and threatens our cultural heritage. Oil and gas will lead to more emissions, and in the face of climate change, this is wholly irresponsible. We as Amadiba people unanimously oppose this oil exploration and destruction of our sacred land.
How it all started
In November 2021, communities across South Africa learned that seismic surveys were about to be conducted by Shell off the southern coastline. The matter was urgent, as there would be an immediate impact on ocean life, and the communities on the Wild Coast.
On 1 September 2022, after instituting urgent court actions, these same communities came one step closer to protecting their environment and heritage when the High Court in Makhanda set aside Shell’s exploration right to conduct seismic surveys off their coastline. The court found that the exploration right had been granted unlawfully.
The court case was instituted by Sustaining the Wild Coast NPC, local residents and fishers and supporting organisations following Shell’s announcement in late-2021 that it would begin seismic blasting to explore for oil and gas based on an exploration right granted by the Minister of Mineral Resources in 2014.
Key court moments in brief
- December 2021: Shell is interdicted by the High Court from continuing with seismic blasting on the Wild Coast, pending determination of the challenge to its exploration right.
- May 2022: Whilst the public took to the Gqeberha streets in protest, inside the court, the parties made arguments about the lawfulness of the exploration right that was granted to Impact Africa in 2014.
- September 2022: Shell’s exploration right to conduct seismic surveys is set aside by the High Court in Makhanda. A victory for communities and CSOs. Shell, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and Impact Africa appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
- 17 May 2024: In the SCA hearing, communities and supporting organisations argued why the Makhanda High Court judgment should stand.
- 3 June 2024: The SCA judgment – The SCA dismissed the appeal by Shell, Impact Africa and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to have the Makhanda judgment set aside, confirming that the exploration right was granted unlawfully, but granted the oil companies a lifeline to keep the exploration right alive through a third renewal process.
However, the SCA suspended the setting aside of the exploration right until Shell’s final renewal application on the right is finalised. The right has been renewed twice before, and a third renewal application was quietly brought by Shell on 21 July 2023 with no notice to affected communities. This was a disappointing outcome for the communities and supporting organisations.
- June 2025: Wild Coast communities, Sustaining the Wild Coast, All Rise Attorneys, Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa have, filed petitions to the Constitutional Court to appeal against the order of the SCA. Shell and Impact Africa also filed for leave to appeal against the SCA’s finding of unlawfulness, but this was dismissed by the Constitutional Court.
The sea is also a mystical place to me, a place where our ancestors reside and a place of prayer. Some view the sea as a place of worship and congregate as churches on the shores.
If you destroy the ocean, you destroy human life. Our livelihoods as indigenous people will be history if the South African Government allows Shell to mine our ocean, our spiritual healing place. Communities have the right to choose and we have the right to live in a healthy environment. As the Amadiba Crisis Committee we say no to any kind of extractivism. Let’s put people before profit.
Constitutional Court action
In the Constitutional Court papers filed in June this year, the Wild Coast communities and environmental justice organisations argue:
- The SCA’s order that allows the Minister to still decide on Shell’s latest renewal application of the disputed exploration right, is not “just and equitable”;
- It gives Shell the chance to make up for their failed consultation process when the right was applied for over a decade ago. The law does not allow this.
- The SCA’s order does not protect the rights of the communities and other parties to fair administrative action. It fails to protect their livelihoods and their cultural and spiritual rights;
- It fails to make it clear what Shell and the Minister must do to fix the defects of the earlier processes, which means that, inevitably, more litigation will follow. To be just and equitable, an order must at least be clear;
- The SCA found that a complete setting aside of the exploration right was “too harsh”. But the organisations argue that there is no need for the SCA to make something less harsh for the parties involved.
- The SCA’s order does not make it clear what process needs to be followed before exploration may be undertaken. In the current law, environmental authorisation is needed.
Court action
A positive Constitutional Court hearing judgment will set an important precedent because:
- It will set a far-reaching legal precedent, confirming that no seismic surveys can be undertaken without proper consultation with affected communities, and that public participation processes must not be a “tick box exercise”.
- It will recognise the importance of the ocean to coastal communities – particularly the linkages with the cultural and customary beliefs of communities.
- It will prevent the exploration of oil and gas off the coastline without due process and the inclusion of the voices of the public. The exploration would disrupt fragile ecosystems and migration patterns – and would harm fish, mammal, and bird species in the area. These are all species that coastal communities rely on for sustenance and livelihoods.
- It will help mitigate the climate crisis. Oil and gas exploration and extraction will lead to more burning of fossil fuels. Governments and scientists agree that keeping global warming to 1.5°C is only possible if there are “no new oil and gas fields approved for development"
Read our fact sheet to learn more about the case
What can you do?
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Join local demonstrations in your area or take part in pickets outside the court room.