Organisations opposing Shell's oil and gas exploration off the Wild Coast were partly disappointed by a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling on Monday. It upheld the urgent interdict halting Shell's operations, but a potential opportunity to continue exploration was still on the cards.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Monday dismissed Shell, Impact Africa and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy's appeal against a court interdict halting Shell's oil and gas exploration off the Wild Coast.

In 2022, the High Court in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, found that Shell's rights for oil and gas exploration off the Wild Coast had been granted unlawfully because of a lack of meaningful consultation with the communities affected by the activities.

The ruling, now upheld by the SCA, also highlighted the energy company's lack of consideration for the communities' rights to food and livelihoods, as well as their cultural and spiritual rights.

Monday's judgment comes amid Shell's plans to divest its downstream operations from South Africa because of a row with its BEE partner, Thebe Investment.

Respondents in the SCA case were Sustaining the Wild Coast, the Dwesa-Cwebe Communal Property Association, residents Ntshindiso Nongcavu, Sazise Maxwell Pekayo and Cameron Thorpe, All Rise Attorneys for Climate and the Environment, Natural Justice and Greenpeace. They were represented by the environmental law firm Cullinan and Associates.

When the case began in the SCA on 17 May, the respondents said Shell had not consulted the affected parties, adding that the...