South Durban residents protest against oil and gas exploration in the ocean

RESIDENTS from South Durban joined members of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) in protest to highlight the impact of oil and gas exploration in the ocean at the Suncoast Casino promenade on November 11.

The protest culminated with a march from the promenade to Wedge Beach and was held in conjunction with the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP27, to draw attention to the challenges the climate faces.

SDCEA’s founder and director, Desmond D’sa, said, “We are activists. We will continue to highlight the impacts of oil and gas exploration on the coastline by Total, Shell, SASOL, PetroSA, and others who have applied to conduct offshore seismic blasting.

“The purpose of the event is to create awareness on and to educate people about the associated risks of oil and gas exploration in the ocean. We also want to shine the spotlight on the impact this has on marine life and the livelihoods of all the fisherfolk, who rely on the ocean for their survival.”

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) includes heads of state, ministers, negotiators, climate activists, mayors and civil society representatives, who joined for the largest annual gathering on climate action as they tackle an array of issues critical to addressing climate emergencies and change.
D’sa said the battle for the oceans and environment has intensified.

“Many corporations such as Shell, SASOL, PetroSA and Total Energies, have started a process to explore for oil and gas along the South African ocean coastline. The impacts for this are immense and affect not only the marine life, but fisherfolk, who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods, surfers, swimmers, traditional healers, and all ocean lovers and users.
“We are highlighting our concerns in response to the conference. We are taking action to raise awareness about the negative impacts of fossil fuels on the poor and the marginalised along the entire value chain from extraction to combustion,” said D’sa.

A memorandum was handed to eThekwini Municipality and the Department of Minerals, Resources and Energy from SDCEA and its allies, Ubunye Bama Hostela, Traditional Healers Association, Abahlali Base Mjondolo, Blackburn Community, Market Users Committee, Wentworth Communities, KZN Subsistence Fishers Forum, Anti-Pollution Watch Dogs, Green Thumb Society, Kings Harvest Academy, Poor Flat Dwellers Movement, Newlands East and Bonela Youth, Mam Ntombela’s Girls, Merebank Community and SDCEA Youth.
Also in the memorandum were the hundreds of lives lost during the April floods.

“There was more than R50 billion in damage done to public and private infrastructure. The water and sanitation system broke, as hundreds of major pipeline breaks occurred during mud slides and torrential water flows.
The memorandum called for a rapid and just transition to a more socially owned, renewable energy powered economy, and urged government to reject projects that could potentially harm marine life, fishing, shoreline recreation, eco-tourism and related activities.

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