Environmental activists protested outside the Total garage in Main Road, Lakeside, on Wednesday 7 December, to voice their disapproval of the company’s intention to drill for oil and gas on the West Coast of South Africa.
Judy Scott-Goldman, the spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, says the drilling would be damaging to businesses and people earning their livelihoods.
“We are standing outside the Total Energy garage in Lakeside because the French company Total is about to start drilling for oil on the West Coast of SA.
“We are totally against drilling for new oil and gas because we believe what the scientists are telling us on climate change such as we are burning the reserves of oil and gas we already have where as there is a massive shift in the world going on to renewable energy.
“There are people earning their livelihoods, maybe they are not wealthy, but at least they are their bosses.
“They make a living, they bring home healthy, nutritious fish for their families, there is also tourism there and all of that will be under threat if the oil and gas are exploited.”
She added that companies would exploit the gas and oil for a few years and then switch to renewable energies which would lead to stranded assets.
“South Africa has been shown research that showed we have huge potential, we have like the highest solar radiation rates in the world, we have tremendous potential. There is absolutely no reason why we need to go down the route of oil and gas.
Goldman explained, while the rest of the world is turning towards renewable energy, SA is going in the opposite direction.
“Why do you want to train South Africans for jobs in oil and gas when the transition is moving in the other direction?
“If you look at the USA at the moment, there is this massive move to renewable energy, the government has passed bills this year. SA is going completely in the other direction which is extremely bad for the country.
“And lastly, we are killing the life in our ocean for no reason. Billions of people in the world live off fish.”
Peter Benjamin, a Muizenberg resident from the People’s Health Movement, said he was terrified of what would be left of the planet if the exploitation continues.
“I am here because I am terrified.
“I’ve got two children, one aged 17 and one aged 21. I don’t think the planet they will live on will be anything like I’ve enjoyed for the past 50 years of my life.
“I feel we’ve only got a decade left and it’s a race between companies trying to extract as much oil and gas and petrol.
“On the other side, the chance of a livable planet for the rest of our planet, we have to get a much bigger movement to stop the bastards that are trying to destroy our planet.”
Gabriel Klaase, a youth climate justice activist and a member of the Project 90 by 2030 movement, says they are against the “devastation and destruction” of gas and oil exploitation at the hands of Total and other big industries.
“We aren’t trying to harm people by saying stop gas and oil exploitation.
“We are trying to help communities raise their voice because these are the front-line communities that are most affected at the end of the day.
“If they say this is not working for them, we need to be able to listen, otherwise we are not looking for a way to develop a just future together.
“People, join us as we stand together and take a stand against this new form of colonialism and government.”
