Court orders Shell to halt seismic survey on Wild Coast

On Tuesday the Grahamstown High Court in Makhanda granted an interdict against Shell’s seismic survey on the Wild Coast.

Protesters take to the water in Muizenberg, Cape Town.

Judge Gerald Bloem granted the applicants – Dwesa-Cwebe Widlife Reserve and Marine Sanctuary, Amadiba Crisis Committee and Port Saint Johns communities – an interdict after they argued that the seismic testing will be detrimental to marine life and local fishing communities, and that the terms of the National Environmental Management Act do not give Shell the authority to conduct seismic surveys in the area. Bloem ordered the survey stopped pending the outcome of a review process.

This is the second application against Shell in the same court. The first application was dismissed by Judge Avinash Govindjee on the grounds that seismic surveys have not had any significant impact on marine populations and that it is not true that the sounds waves used during the seismic surveys will cause deafening underwater sounds and thereby harm marine life.

Bloem said there had been no expert evidence before judge Govindjee in the previous application, Times Live reports. “That case is completely distinguishable from the present matter. In addition to the harm to marine life, the applicants have established  a negative impact on the livelihood of fishers and cultural and spiritual harm.”

Shell and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe were ordered to pay the legal costs of the latest applicants.

Picture: Anton Crone

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