ASouth African High Court has rescinded an environmental authorisation previously granted to TotalEnergies and its joint venture partner Shell to conduct offshore oil exploration in a block situated between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas. The decision, issued on 13 August by Western Cape High Court Judge Nobahle Mangcu-Lockwood, follows legal action brought by civil society groups challenging the adequacy of the project’s environmental and socio-economic assessments.
The judgment found that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) underpinning the permit had not sufficiently considered potential socio-economic consequences of a large-scale oil spill, nor had it adequately factored in the long-term implications of climate change. The court emphasised that TotalEnergies should be afforded the opportunity to address these deficiencies by submitting revised or supplementary assessments.
The ruling concerns Block 5/6/7, an area that has drawn significant attention from the oil and gas sector due to its location near the Orange Basin — a geologically rich zone that extends from Namibia into South African waters. Recent offshore discoveries in Namibia have spurred heightened exploration interest along southern Africa’s Atlantic coast, as energy companies seek to replicate these finds. While the basin has been actively explored on the Namibian side, South African sections remain largely undeveloped.
TotalEnergies, which announced in 2024 its intention to exit the concession and transfer operatorship to Shell, has yet to issue an official statement in response to the court’s decision. State-owned PetroSA retains a minority interest in the project.
This ruling is the latest in a growing number of legal challenges to offshore oil and gas exploration in South Africa, reflecting an increasingly complex balancing act between national energy ambitions, environmental stewardship, and the socio-economic interests of coastal communities. Environmental law organisation Natural Justice, one of the applicants in the case, described the decision as a reinforcement of the principle that corporations must follow due process and engage meaningfully with communities potentially affected by large-scale resource projects.
The dispute underscores a wider continental conversation about resource development in Africa — particularly the tension between harnessing hydrocarbon wealth for economic growth and addressing environmental, climate, and social concerns. It also points to the legal and procedural frameworks shaping extractive industries in African jurisdictions, where courts are increasingly playing a decisive role in mediating between development imperatives and environmental governance.
As global energy markets undergo structural shifts and African states seek pathways to industrialisation, the outcome of such cases may influence not only investment patterns but also the evolving jurisprudence on environmental and climate accountability in resource development across the continent.
