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Mail & Guardian
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Environment minister Dion George says oceans could provide a R166 billion boost and 600 000 jobs. (Photo: Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
BLUE ECONOMY SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa’s oceans: “Blue gold” for jobs and growth by 2035

Environment minister Dion George says oceans could provide a R166 billion boost and 600 000 jobs

  • Sheree Bega
2 min read
Mad dash: Most of the sudden influx of prospecting applications are for lithium, but include dozens of other critical minerals. Pictured here is the SA Lithium Mine near Umzumbe. Photo: Supplied
AFLI EXPLORATIONS

Mining red flags along KwaZulu-Natal’s South Coast

Thirteen prospecting applications have been submitted to the department of minerals and petroleum resources by seven companies since 2023

  • Andiswa Matikinca
11 min read
The government has rolled out a five-year roadmap to safeguard South Africa’s 3 592km coastline while unlocking its potential for equitable prosperity, climate resilience and ecological health.
CLIMATE RESILIENCE

State unveils five-year plan to protect 3 592km of coastline

The focus of the new coastal plan is on climate resilience, ecosystem restoration and equitable prosperity

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Gentle giants: Manta rays, which can reach a span of seven to eight metres, are found in warm waters. Reef mantas are found along coastlines and oceanic mantas in open waters
ENDANGERED MARINE SPECIES

Scientists reveal the mysteries of South Africa’s ‘wings of the sea’

The graceful manta rays gliding along the coastline are little known and humans have caused a significant a decline in their numbers

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
African penguins, endemic to Southern Africa, are one of the most threatened seabird species globally and they face the risk of extinction in the wild by 2035. Populations have shrunk by 90% in the past 70 years, dwindling to about 8 500 breeding pairs today.
AFRICAN PENGUIN

Africa’s only penguin moves closer to extinction

The seabirds were recently moved to critically endangered status, meaning drastic action has to be taken to save them from being wiped out

  • Sheree Bega
6 min read
The government has rolled out a five-year roadmap to safeguard South Africa’s 3 592km coastline while unlocking its potential for equitable prosperity, climate resilience and ecological health.
BASELINE RESEARCH

Shell v Wild Coast: Science, research and erring on the side of caution

Court applicants have argued that the company should be required to conduct an environmental impact assessment, based on the best available science, which has advanced…

  • Heather Dugmore
10 min read
Protesters at the Waterfront waiting the arrival of the ship Amazon Warrior . They are against the planned Shell seismic survey for oil and gas in the ocean on November 21, 2021 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is reported that Shell has announced that it will carry out a three-dimensional seismic survey in search of oil and gas deposits from Morgan Bay to Port St Johns off the Wild Coast. (Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
ALL RISE ATTORNEYS FOR CLIMATE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Shell seismic ops: ‘Our ancestors’ blood was spilt protecting the land and sea’

Communities along the Wild Coast have approached the high court in Makhanda for an urgent interdict to stop Shell from initiating seismic survey operations

  • Sheree Bega
8 min read
Protestors at the Waterfront waiting the arrival of the ship Amazon Warrior . They are against the planned Shell seismic survey for oil and gas in the ocean on November 21, 2021 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is reported that Shell has announced that it will carry out a three-dimensional seismic survey in search of oil and gas deposits from Morgan Bay to Port St Johns off the Wild Coast. (Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
ALBI MODISE

Urgent interdict filed to block Shell’s Wild Coast seismic survey

Shell’s 3D seismic survey is set to begin on Wednesday. But a high court application brought by rights groups to block it will be heard as an urgent matter on Tuesday

  • Sheree Bega
11 min read
Marine disaster: Dead fish float in the uMhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve river in Durban after a spill when the United Phosphorus Limited chemical plant was set alight during the July riots. The company had also failed to get environmental authorisation. Photo: Guillem Sartoria/AFP/Getty Images
BLUE FLAG STATUS

Sewage, chemical spills undermine environmental groups’ KZN marine clean-up

Sewage spillages are often result of no maintenance and the UPL chemical factory did not have environmental authorisation

  • Marcia Zali
2 min read
Vulnerable: Environmentalists argue that the proposed oil and gas exploration and production will disrupt people’s livelihoods and the marine life following the huge shoals of sardines. (Rajesh Jantilal/AFP)
BARBARA CREECY

Creecy taken to court over oil, gas plan

An environment group says its application is a ‘watershed’ case for stopping deep sea exploration

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read