Cape Town – Legal objections lodged by environmental groups are holding South Africa back from exploring its massive oil and gas potential, and undermining development, the energy minister said on Monday.
The global shocks to the oil and gas supply due to the conflict in the Middle East showed more than ever the importance of accelerating domestic production, Gwede Mantashe said at a meeting of industry leaders.
Groups that “resisted” this route “displayed hatred of progress in South Africa”, the mines and energy minister told the Southern Africa Oil and Gas Conference.
Interest in oil and gas exploration off South Africa’s coast has surged in recent years, driven in part by major discoveries across the maritime border in Namibia and Mozambique.
[WATCH] Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe says the Middle East war calls for urgency to increase refinery capacity locally to mitigate fuel prices from spiralling our of control. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/SDcD1tGiWy
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) March 16, 2026
But energy giants Shell and TotalEnergies have been blocked from offshore exploration after court cases and appeals lodged by activists who argue it would harm marine life.
South Africa had the potential to unlock 27 billion barrels and 60 trillion cubic feet of oil and gas resources should blockages be removed, Petroleum Agency SA CEO Bongani Sayidini told reporters at the conference.
Frustrated by lengthy delays caused by legal battles, the mining department wanted to fast-track the establishment of specialised courts to deal with oil and gas disputes, Mantashe said.
“The main problem today is our environmentalists who take us to court,” he said.
“We have potential to exploit oil, we have potential to exploit gas, but for every oil and gas project, we end up in court,” he said.
WATCH | Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe says South Africa needs to urgently boost its capacity for refining fuel in order to mitigate against the surging oil price caused by the Middle East conflict. pic.twitter.com/1YLwdcEF5U
— SABC News (@SABCNews) March 16, 2026
“It’s about balancing ecology and economy, integrating it into one. You don’t stop development and say you’re protecting the ecology. You are not protecting the ecology – you are actually obstructing ecology by blocking development.”
An example was the Atlantic Ocean Orange Basin, which has led to significant oil discoveries in Namibia waters that may extend southwards into South African waters, he said.
Namibia had the potential to make “a killing out of it” but South Africa “can’t touch it” because lobby groups blocked exploration, he said.
“The endowment that we’re having needs to be exploited,” he said.
The government was meanwhile finalising regulations for the lifting of a 13-year moratorium on shale gas exploration in the Karoo Basin, Mantashe said.
“We will put pressure because every potential from us needs to be exploited,” he said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
