Cape Town - Civil society and fisher organisations held a symbolic demonstration outside the Cape Town International Convention Centre where Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe met fishing communities to discuss their concerns about the development of the upstream petroleum industry.
“This meeting forms part of a process we started earlier this year. We are engaging with all interested and affected parties on the development of the upstream petroleum industry in South Africa. We need to explore and exploit the minerals that our country is endowed with to grow our economy,” Mantashe said.
The engagement took place as part of a series of events which will culminate in a final joint energy colloquium by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) in October where environmental impact considerations of upstream oil and gas activities will be addressed.
As a result, Masifundise Development Trust, the Green Connection, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, SA Fishers Collective, Coastal Justice Network and KZN Subsistence Fisherfolks expressed their opposition towards oil and gas extractive activities.
These organisations believed the engagement were an attempt to pacify and weaken the message some smallscale fishing communities have been sending out against the pillaging of coastal waters and their belief that oil and gas development and fishing activities could not co-exist.
Green Connection strategic lead Liz McDaid said, “We believe that real dialogue would mean all South Africans are consulted about the energy future they want.”
McDaid said if the minister was serious about engagement, he should halt all oil and gas exploration and then talk with the affected communities and people to find out if they wanted this in the country’s energy future.
At the engagement, Mantashe said: “One thing about this government is that it acknowledges and respects the right of all citizens to participate in policy formation. Hence, we gazette every policy proposal for public comments.”
Masifundise programme manager Carmen Mannarino said this demonstration was held to highlight their concerns about how the DMRE was approaching engagement with fishers.
“We have seen a lot of effort in trying to mitigate or even reverse the positions that fishing communities and coastal communities have towards the development of oil and gas industry on the coastline. “
Mantashe’s spokesperson, Nathi Shabangu, told the Cape Argus they expected people to protest but they saw no protest action or disturbances that interfered with their engagement.
“We had a successful engagement, people raised their issues as friendly as they could and the minister and his department responded to these issues. We have now had three dialogues with fishing communities about energy matters to create awareness about the need to develop our country and ensure that the minerals we are endowed with contribute to economic growth.
“In doing so, we acknowledge that this needs to be done responsibly hence we are engaging with the people who are the experts, the fishing communities themselves,” Shabangu said.