Central SA
Northern Cape communities unhappy over oil drilling plans─── 08:47 Thu, 30 Jun 2022
Drilling operations for oil in the Northern Cape are anticipated to start as early as September this year.
This comes despite a recent community protest against a similar exploration project in the Richtersveld earlier this month against the Boegoebaai Green Hydrogen Project.
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A media enquiry that was sent to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, and Environmental Affairs, the Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA), as well as the Department of Minerals and Resources, yielded no answers.
The environmental and social justice lobbying group, The Green Connection, says local residents and fishermen from Alexander Bay, Port Nolloth, Kleinzee, Koingnaas, and Hondeklip Bay are concerned about the potential impact that this project will have on the environment and fishing industry. The group’s Neville van Rooy said in an interview with OFM News that an advertisement about potential employment opportunities is at the centre of their unhappiness.
Earlier this year, Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas acquired 100% of the Azinam Group, a company that had reportedly planned on starting exploration plans around October this year. As reported by Oceans Not Oil, this particular drilling area has changed hands numerous times, with one of its last owners being Shell/Impact Africa. There are allegations that this project poses similar issues regarding the unlawfulness of the environmental authorisation for the drilling off the Wild Coast by Shell/Impact Africa.
