Picket demonstration against oil and gas drilling at Amanzimtoti beach
“We also oppose any further granting of permission to drill alongside this block where the company wants to encroach further into the coastline. This ocean grab for oil and gas is wrong for so many reasons," said SDCEA office coordinator, Desmond D’sa.
A group of children led a demonstration at Amanzimtoti Main Beach to voice their concerns against oil and gas drilling on Friday, 21 August. The picket was hosted by South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) in conjunction with the KZN Subsistence Fisherfolk Forum and the youth of South Durban, to oppose the authorisation by the South African government to allow Total Oil Corporation to drill off the Eastern sea bed for oil and gas.
“We also oppose any further granting of permission to drill alongside this block where the company wants to encroach further into the coastline. This ocean grab for oil and gas is wrong for so many reasons. The South African coastline is highly sensitive with a wide range of marine biodiversity and we have just marked a decade since the BP Deep Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, where lives, livelihoods and biodiversity were lost. Still to this day, the communities have not recovered. We are now also witnessing the effects of the oil spill in Mauritius, where a Japanese bulk carrier leaked 4 000 of tonnes of fuel, causing an ecological emergency,” said SDCEA office coordinator, Desmond D’sa.
According to D’sa, the area where the gas grab is underway is an eco-sensitive area, where the warm Agulhas current (and the fastest current in the world) meets the cold waters of the Benguela current.
“These are vast breeding and feeding grounds for all kinds of marine creatures which support all our lives and livelihoods. If we mess this up with seismic surveys, drilling wastes, leaking wells or even a blow out, the impacts will be felt by all South Africans, Mozambicans and Namibians. The ocean is a continuum. We believe that the cumulative and direct impacts of these exploration and extraction proposals has the potential to irreversibly affect the marine environment, tourism and recreational jobs, fisherfolk livelihoods and people who generally love the beach,” he added.
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Sherelee Odayar of SDCEA said, “Total E&P South Africa BV is doing an additional exploration drilling and association activities in block 11B and 12B off the South Coast of South Africa. They are destroying our ocean, one block at a time and are continuing to contribute to climate change.”
At the time of going to press, Total Oil was unable to comment.
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