Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe Photo Twitter/@GwedeMantashe1
South Africa – On Wednesday, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe doubled down on his commitment to pursue oil and gas in the country. Delivering a keynote address at the Enlit Africa Conference in Cape Town, Mantashe boldly claimed the government is ready to endure legal challenges in their pursuit of oil and gas. A statement that has not gone down well with environmental organisations.
However, Mantashe’s stance should not come as a shock to anyone, said Neville van Rooy, Green Connection’s Community Outreach Coordinator. This is due to Mantashe constantly defending Shell and going as far as calling the objections to Shell’s operations as an “apartheid and colonialism of a special type”. Mantashe’s statement ignores the rights of people and can be seen as a different form of oppression.
“We can no longer tolerate this colonial and now neo-colonial oppression that we are experiencing. We are talking about serious human rights violations here. The right to food that is now being disrespected. The right to clean and healthy oceans, the right to a local economy by people that is now being infringed on and disrespected. Not to mention the disrespect to climate change.”
Government is two faced when it comes to energy production
It is hard to know where the government stands when it comes to producing energy. At COP 27, South Africa pledged to move towards renewable energy but these latest comments from Mantashe goes against that. One thing is being said while another is being done, said van Rooy.
“Our government is not fully practising what they are preaching. They are saying to the international community that they will move away from fossil fuels. We are finding the opposite right now. They are clinging to and promoting the fossil fuel industry. It is an industry that is responsible for the climate crisis that will allow us to not reach our climate target.”
Mantashe’s comments have not gone down well with the fishing communities who are fighting tooth and nail to stop Shell and other companies from exploring the ocean floor for gas. Mantashe also reiterated the need for Karpowership to deal with the energy crisis. An option that OUTA and other organisations have already written off as a disaster waiting to happen.
Neville van Rooy spoke to Inayet Wadee on the devastating impact Gwede Mantashe is having on climate change. To hear more of that, listen to the podcast here:
