South Africa’s Constitutional Court has struck down Shell’s exploration rights off the Wild Coast citing unlawful consultation of local communities in a ruling that ends the energy giant’s plan to search for oil and gas along the country’s eastern shoreline.
The court found that communities along the 250‑kilometre Eastern Cape shoreline were never properly consulted, ruling that belated engagement could not cure the violation of their constitutional rights.
The decision reinstates a 2022 Makhanda High Court order that had invalidated the exploration right, which was first granted to Impact Africa in 2014 and later shared with Shell.
The Supreme Court of Appeal had upheld the right in 2024 but the Constitutional Court overturned that judgment, with seven of nine judges backing the majority opinion.
Shell and Impact Africa had invested about R1.1 billion (about $66 million) in the project, which included plans for seismic surveys.
In 2021, Shell announced it would begin a 3D survey, sparking widespread protests by environmental groups, fishing communities and civil society organisations.
Sustaining the Wild Coast, All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice, Greenpeace and others secured an interdict halting the survey that December.
The high court later found the exploration right unlawful on three grounds: failure to consult affected communities, disregard for marine life and cultural rights, and unsupported claims of job creation.
The Constitutional Court ruling now permanently blocks the project, noting that allowing financial investment to outweigh constitutional violations would subordinate community rights to commercial interests.
The dissenting opinion by Justice Owen Rogers argued that a fair remedy should accommodate all sides, but the majority held that the original application was fatally flawed and could not be revived.
The ruling comes amid a government moratorium on new coastal exploration rights, reinforcing the Wild Coast communities’ victory in a legal battle that has become a symbol of resistance to fossil fuel expansion in South Africa.
JN/APA