JOHANNESBURG, 14 AUGUST 2026 – South Africa’s Constitutional Court has delivered a decisive victory for Wild Coast communities, ocean justice and environmental rights, by setting aside the exploration right that would have allowed Shell and Impact Africa to search for oil and gas off the Wild Coast, and closing any renewal route.

The precedent-setting judgment, authored by Justice Narandran “Jody” Kollapen and handed down today, sets aside a previous Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that had granted energy giants an opportunity to remedy unlawful exploration rights through renewal applications. The court ruled decisively that corporate financial investments cannot override constitutional violations or procedural injustice.

Delivering the majority judgment, Justice Narandran “Jody” Kollapen emphasised that economic development cannot steamroll community rights and cultural heritage:

“The enquiry cannot be reduced to a formal balancing exercise that treats cultural, religious, spiritual and environmental concerns as merely competing interests against economic development…A just and equitable remedy should therefore not allow speculative or corporation-centred economic benefits to outweigh procedural justice where communities’ livelihoods, cultural identity and environmental interests are directly at stake.”

South Africa’s coastline is a hotbed for oil and gas exploration activities that directly impact communities’ environments, livelihoods, heritage, and cultural practices. This judgment sets a critical precedent by establishing that procedural injustice and the failure to consult local communities cannot be cured after the fact, ensuring that human rights, ocean protection, and precautionary environmental law take strict priority over fossil fuel expansion. In reaching its decision, the Court drew on the July 2025 International Court of Justice advisory opinion on states’ climate obligations, underscoring that climate change must be weighed in decisions of this kind.

Civil Society & Community Reactions

Reflecting on the monumental ruling, Eugene Perumal, Governance and Legal Advisor at Greenpeace Africa, stated:

“14 August 2026 will go down as a historic day following this landmark judgment by the Constitutional Court. This ruling vindicates the affected grassroots communities of the Wild Coast, civil society organisations, and our legal representatives who fought tirelessly together.

The apex court firmly rejected Shell’s assertion—supported by the SCA—that the fundamental requirement for meaningful public participation could be applied retrospectively via the backdoor to cure a fatal illegality. While the minority judgment considered the multi-million dollar corporate investment, the majority correctly recognised that legitimising such an illegality would undermine our Constitution. The message from the Constitutional Court today is clear: people and their constitutional rights come before corporate profits.”

Adding to the significance of the ruling for frontline populations, Sherelee Odayar, Oil and Gas Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, emphasised:

“For too long, frontline communities have been forced to bear the brunt of corporate exploitation without their consent. Today, the Constitutional Court affirmed that public participation is not a box-ticking exercise, but a mandatory protection of community dignity, cultural heritage and coastal livelihoods.”

We, as communities, did not know that we had the power to challenge the government until we met and worked with them. Without their support, the oil and gas would probably have already been drilled in these oceans, because even some of our own leaders—the people we look to in the areas where we live—were turning against us and offering our oceans to companies, saying that the oil and gas should be drilled. But because of the unity between coastal communities and our legal representatives, that did not happen. We say: Amandla! Power to the rights of communities! Amandla!” said Sazise Maxwell Pekayo, Applicant and Kei Mouth fisher

“Today’s judgment in the Constitutional Court is an important and historic victory not only for coastal communities, but for all South Africans who care about the environment, the rule of law, and the future of our children. Beyond the technical legal arguments, this case has always been about whether the interests and profits of multinational corporations override the rights of communities to effectively participate in decisions that will affect their livelihoods, their rights to a healthy environment, and their cultural and spiritual rights. The court affirmed that the right to public participation is not just about following a procedure and ticking boxes, but rather that it is about  placing the dignity of our people at the centre of developmental decisions that will affect them.” said Delme Cupido, Hub Director at Natural Justice.

The case was brought to the Constitutional Court by indigenous coastal communities, small-scale fishers, and environmental advocacy groups including Sustaining the Wild Coast, Natural Justice, Greenpeace Africa, and All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice. The applicants successfully argued that the original exploration right granted to Impact Africa (and later transferred in part to Shell) was unlawful due to a lack of meaningful public consultation and a failure to consider communities’ constitutional rights.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES & INTERVIEW REQUESTS:

Ferdinand Omondi, Communication Lead, Greenpeace Africa, +254 722 505 233, [email protected]

Greenpeace Africa Press desk: [email protected]