[imagesource: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach]

In late November, South Africans were up in arms about Shell’s plans to carry out a seismic survey off the Wild Coast between Morgan Bay and Port St Johns in the north.

There were protests, petitions, boycotts, and a general sense of we’ll do what we want from Shell.

South Africans had the last laugh with a court ruling temporarily halting the seismic survey, and again dismissing Shell and Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe’s application for leave to appeal that ruling last week.

Why has Mantashe been so desperate to push this through, against the wishes of many in the communities that will be affected, and the South African public on the whole?

Follow the money, with News24 shedding light:

A company linked to Shell – the petroleum giant that has the government’s support for seismic exploration off the Wild Coast, despite public outrage – donated R15 million to the ANC in the third quarter of the current financial year.

It was the single-largest donation that was declared between October and December 2021 – the period when opposition to Shell’s seismic exploration plans started to grow.

It’s just so utterly predictable.

The Batho Batho Trust, which made the donation, has clear links to the ANC, including owning 47% of black-owned investment group, Thebe.

Thebe has a 28% stake in Shell’s downstream business in South Africa.

The donation became public knowledge yesterday after the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) published declarations in terms of the Political Party Funding Act.

In total, the ANC received R22 803 969 in funding. The R15 million from the Batho Batho Trust accounts for more than 65% of that amount.

As public backlash to the seismic survey grew, Mantashe went on the offensive. He even went as far as to label opposition to the exploration a “special type” of apartheid and colonialism.

This is the same guy who fell for an April Fools’ Day joke and presented Hazenile as an actual mineral at an Australian mining conference.

Via City Press, here are the total donations declared by each party during the third quarter of the financial year:

• ANC: R22 803 969
• ATM: R200 000
• DA: R12 519 623
• EFF: R3 148 176
• FF Plus: R484 438
• GOOD: R340 447
• IFP: R787 588

This marks the first time the EFF has disclosed its donations.

Our courts may have temporarily halted the Wild Coast seismic survey, but let’s not forget that the battle is far from over.

[sources:news24&citypress]