By Nneka Nwogwugwu
West coast communities and other concerned citizens have lodged an urgent application to interdict a seismic survey off the West Coast.
The seismic survey is to be performed by an Australian geoscience data supplier Searcher Seismic. The application was filed at the Western Cape High court on Friday.
There are 14 applicants in the matter – including individuals who live along the West coast as well as small-scale fisheries – such as Steenbergs Cove Small Scale Fisheries Cooperative, the Aukatowa Small Scale Fisheries Cooperative and Coastal links Langebaan – and civil society organisations We Are South Africans and The Green Connection. They are represented by the Legal Resources Centre and Richard Spoor Attorneys.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy, the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) are among the respondents listed in the matter.
Searcher Seismic and its UK division Searcher Geodata and the vessel performing the survey BGP Pioneer, have also been listed as respondents.
There are two parts to the application – the first seeks an urgent interdict of the seismic survey off the west and south-west coasts of the country, pending the outcomes of the second part of the application: an appeal of PASA’s decision to grant the reconnaissance permit in May 2021. The applicants want the court to review and set aside the decision to grant the permit, which they believe was unlawful.
There is no clarity as to whether the survey has started or not. Fin24 has sent Searcher multiple requests for comment, without a response.
The app MarineTraffic on Friday 21 January, showed that the BGP Pioneer is near St Helena Bay.
According to PASA the survey is planned for January to May.
If the court rules in favour of the applicants, then Searcher’s seismic survey would be interdicted until a lawful reconnaissance permit is granted.
This means that Searcher must comply with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) and the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) by consulting meaningfully with affected parties and obtaining environmental authorisation.
PASA previously told Fin24 that at the time the application for the reconnaissance permit was lodged, in April 2021, there was no legal requirement for environmental authorisation, in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations which were gazette in June 2021. These amendments do not apply retrospectively, according to PASA.