Wild Coast community members protest at ConCourt against Shell's seismic exploration for oil & gas

Community members from the Wild Coast have come out in their numbers at the Constitutional Court to demonstrate against the seismic exploration for oil and gas by giant Shell.

Environmental groups and the community are at the apex court for leave to appeal a Supreme Court judgment in favour of Shell.

In its judgment last year, the appeal court allowed Shell to bring an application for seismic exploration on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape.

But environmental groups, including Natural Justice and Greenpeace, are challenging this ruling, saying the seismic blasting is detrimental to marine life and the environment.

Greenpeace oil and gas campaigner, Sherelee Odayar, said Shell had failed to consider the cultural and spiritual rights of communities on the Wild Coast.

"They do not consider communities in terms of public participation. They went in consultation with the chiefs and the monarchs and that's not actually public consultation, it's not community consultation because they didn't consider the full community when doing consultation."

Jacobus van Wyk, a fisherman, said big business does not care about the well-being of the environment and the communities.

"You have to make a decision and a strong decision. The future of our children, the future of our land, the future of our marine system is in our hands. If you can't protect it now, tomorrow we will be very ashamed."

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