Judgment has been reserved in the virtually sitting of the Grahamstown High Court in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape on the application to interdict the seismic survey along the Wild Coast by Shell and will be delivered at a date that is yet to be set.
This application was brought by a number of coastal communities including the Amadiba Crisis Committee after an urgent application was dismissed by the same court two weeks ago.
The Committee’s spokesperson Nontle Mbuthuma has stressed that the survey has a negative impact on residents including the ocean economy.
“This is a huge loss for the fishermen and fisherwomen that are living along the coast. If Shell gets permission to go ahead because the ocean creates quite a lot of jobs. But those jobs will be lost and will not be replaced and we know that Shell for starting mining and gas is not going to create jobs, it’s going to make our communities lose their livelihoods and there will be no turning back and also our environment will be damaged as well.”
Shell’s seismic survey application in the Grahamstown High Court:
