Shell saga: Big victory for little people

While the fight over a proposed seismic survey by Shell – to assess potential fossil fuel deposits off the Eastern Cape coast – is far from over, yesterday’s court interdict in Makhanda against the oil multinational was an important victory for the little person.

The tussle will continue in legal and other avenues because the interdict was not a final one; it merely said that the process had not included full consultation with all of the affected communities.

Judge Gerald Bloem found that communities in Umgungundlovu, Port St Johns, Kei Mouth and Dwesa-Cweba, had not had the chance to fully understand or debate the proposal. Those communities have customary rights under the constitution, which include fishing rights, as well as deep spiritual and cultural connections to the ocean.

The court therefore found that the government had granted Shell’s exploration right unlawfully. That decision alone, however, may have massive implications for any future major projects if communities decide to oppose them.

Already, the Gauteng toll road fiasco has arisen because there was insufficient discussion about it with the motorists of the province… no matter what the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) claims.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Cape, communities are fighting proposals by Sanral to reroute the N2 highway through their communities – allegedly for the benefit of multinational companies who want to mine in the area. In all these cases, the ANC government appears solidly on the side of big (and often foreign) business… and not its own people.

This ruling will strengthen not only the country’s fledgling environmental lobby but will also encourage other communities who can see that the judicial system is still prepared to uphold the letter and the spirit of the law.

The days of steamrolling projects through, against the will of the people most affected, are numbered. And that is what democracy is all about.

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