Wild Coast communities must be consulted before Shell explores land for mining - lawyers

Lawyers representing communities on the Wild Coast said their dignity would be affirmed by consultation from oil and gas giant Shell before it explores their land for mining.

The communities and environmental groups approached the Constitutional Court on Tuesday to challenge a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA)'s ruling that allows Shell to bring an application for seismic exploration.

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In their arguments, the communities have flagged the potential contamination of the sea during seismic blasting, and they have accused Shell of not consulting them.

The Wild Coast community has accused oil and gas companies Impact and Shell of being sarcastic in their approach towards a consultation process.

They want the companies to be compelled to consult with the community before a decision is made on whether to award exploration rights.

“That actually is correct because it is a lesson for others in the future that if you ride roughshod over community interests, at a certain point, the judges of the Constitutional Court are going to tell you to go backwards,” said lawyer for the Wild Coast community Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.

As it stands, the SCA has allowed Shell and Impact to apply for renewal of licences for seismic exploration.

But Ngcukaitobi argues that this decision must be overturned, and the communities must be consulted first.

Judgement in the matter has been reserved.

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