Wild Coast communities await judgment in Shell case

13 August 2026

WILD COAST COMMUNITIES AWAIT CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGMENT IN SHELL EXPLORATION CASE

Court to decide whether Shell and Impact Africa may seek to renew an unlawful exploration right or must begin the process afresh

Johannesburg: The Constitutional Court will deliver judgment tomorrow, 14 August 2026, at 10:00 in the long running legal battle over an exploration right for oil and gas off the Wild Coast.

The matter was brought by Wild Coast communities and environmental justice organisations against Shell, Impact Africa and the State. It concerns an exploration right granted in 2014 that would have allowed seismic surveys to be conducted in the waters off the Wild Coast.

The lawfulness of the original exploration right is no longer in question. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal found that it was unlawfully granted. The Constitutional Court also declined applications by Shell and Impact Africa for leave to appeal that finding.

What remains before the Constitutional Court is the appropriate remedy for this unlawfulness.

Although the Supreme Court of Appeal agreed that the right was unlawful, it suspended the High Court order setting it aside. This gave Shell and Impact Africa an opportunity to pursue a third and final renewal application, subject to a further public participation process.

Wild Coast communities and environmental organisations challenged that remedy before the Constitutional Court. They argued that consultation cannot be added at the end of an unlawful process to remedy the exclusion of communities at the beginning.

Meaningful consultation must take place before decisions are made that may affect people’s ancestral waters, livelihoods, food security, culture, spiritual practices and relationship with the ocean. It is not merely a procedural requirement. It is an important part of the constitutional rights to dignity, culture, a healthy environment and just administrative action.

The judgment is expected to determine whether Shell and Impact Africa may continue with the renewal process after conducting further public participation, or whether the exploration right must be set aside entirely, requiring any future application to begin afresh and comply fully with the law from the outset.

If the Supreme Court of Appeal remedy is allowed to stand in some form, Shell and Impact Africa will still be required to undertake meaningful public participation before a decision can be made on the renewal application. The central question is whether consultation at such a late stage can properly remedy the failure to consult communities when the exploration right was first sought.

The case therefore reaches beyond the future of one exploration right. It concerns the rights of all South Africans to participate in decisions about the country’s oceans and the responsibility of the State and private companies to respect communities before approving projects that may profoundly affect their lives.

For Wild Coast communities, the ocean is not simply a potential site for commercial extraction. It sustains small scale fishing, household food security and livelihoods. It is also inseparable from cultural practices, ancestral connections and the life of communities that have cared for this coastline for generations.

Speaking ahead of the Constitutional Court hearing in 2025, Wilmien Wicomb of the Legal Resources Centre said:

“The decision fails to adequately vindicate the infringed rights of affected communities and does not cure the flaws in the original consultation process.”

The litigation was brought in December 2021 by Sustaining the Wild Coast NPC, Wild Coast communities, Wild Coast small scale fishers and All Rise Attorneys for Climate and the Environment. They are represented by the Legal Resources Centre and Richard Spoor Incorporated.

Natural Justice and Greenpeace Africa subsequently joined the matter and are represented by Cullinan and Associates.

In 2022, the High Court found the exploration right unlawful and halted the proposed seismic exploration. Shell, Impact Africa and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy appealed that judgment. The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the finding of unlawfulness but suspended the order setting the right aside while the renewal application was considered.

The Constitutional Court reserved judgment following the hearing on 16 September 2025.

The Legal Resources Centre and its partners will study the judgment and share further information about what it means for Wild Coast communities and the future of offshore exploration in South Africa.

Read the previous statement on the Constitutional Court proceedings: The Battle with Shell to Protect the Wild Coast Continues