By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The vessel hired by Royal Dutch Shell Plc to look for potential oil and gas fields is on course to leave South African waters after community groups won a court case to temporarily halt the activity.
A judge on December 28 granted local activists an interim interdict blocking any seismic surveys until a ruling can be made on whether further environmental authorization is required.
No date was set for that decision, and just a few days later the vessel named the Amazon Warrior headed back around the Cape of Good Hope, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
A spokesman for Shell wasn’t immediately able to comment. The vessel is set to reach a destination indicated as Las Palmas on January 18, the data showed.
Protests against the exploration activity started in South Africa in November with the arrival of the Amazon Warrior. It was set to explore an area known as the Wild Coast, a relatively untouched coastline where whales are frequently spotted.
Director of Oceans not Oil Janet Solomon – a coalition of those who stand against South Africa’s fossil fuel dependence – said “this ruling is the very definition of law and justice being the cornerstone of our society. And it will be a very vocal warning to companies that people have the power”.
Non-profit Sustaining the Wild Coast (SWC) Sinegugu Zukulu said: “The voices of the voiceless have been heard. The voices of the directly affected people have at last been heard, and the constitutional rights of indigenous people have been upheld.”
Greenpeace Africa’s petition titled “Stop Shell from destroying the Wild Coast” garnered more than 84 600 signatures.