We the People congratulates the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC) and the Wild Coast communities of South Africa on their recent court victory against Shell’s plans to conduct seismic activities off the Wild Coast in preparation for crude oil extraction.

For years, Shell has pushed for the right to undertake preliminary activities towards offshore oil extraction, assuring communities that its proposed seismic surveys would be harmless to marine life and would not threaten their livelihoods. These assurances are painfully familiar to communities in the Niger Delta, who were given similar promises before decades of oil extraction resulted in extensive pollution, destroyed livelihoods and widespread ecological degradation.

The Amadiba Crisis Committee and the Wild Coast communities of South Africa have consistently resisted Shell’s plans, arguing that the ocean is central to their food, livelihoods, culture and spiritual life.

The decision of the court in South Africa is an important and critical victory for the right of communities, and environmental justice. The court found serious flaws in Shell’s consultation process, including the use of newspapers that were not accessible to affected communities and notices published only in English and Afrikaans, despite the predominantly Xhosa-speaking population. Importantly, the court recognized that meaningful consultation extends beyond providing people with an opportunity to express an opinion. Consultation must recognize the right of those consulted to say no. It is also connected to the dignity and agency of communities as participants in decisions affecting their traditional territories, culture and livelihoods.

For We the People, this is an all too important principle. Communities must not be treated as obstacles that need to be removed, bypassed or consulted merely to legitimize decisions that have already been made. Major projects affecting people’s territories and livelihoods must be subjected to genuine and informed participation, including respect for the principle of free, prior and informed consent.

We the People has closely supported the Amadiba Crisis Committee in its struggle to keep oil extraction off the Wild Coast. Our solidarity with the ACC and the Wild Coast communities is rooted in our common experience of  combating destructive extractivism and the companies that drive it. In 2025, We the People and the Amadiba Crisis Committee convened the Nigeria–South Africa Learning Exchange and launched the Global Network of Resistance to Shell, which created solidarity and knowledge-sharing between the Niger Delta and the Wild Coast communities.

In September 2025, eight Wild Coast activists travelled to the Niger Delta, visiting Otuabagi in Bayelsa State, where oil extraction began in Nigeria in 1956, Ibaa community, where residents have experienced the devastating consequences of oil pollution, and participated in several conversations with Niger Delta communities.

In April 2026, eight Niger Delta activists travelled to the Wild Coast, where they participated in town hall meetings and shared directly with communities what decades of onshore and offshore oil extraction have meant for the Niger Delta. These exchanges strengthened the resolve of Wild Coast communities to keep Shell off their coast.

We therefore see this court victory as more than a legal victory against Shell. It is a victory for communities all over the world who are projecting their voices and asserting their fundamental right to determine what happens to their territories. it is also an affirmation that the rights of people must always come before corporate greed and profits.

We the People will continue to stand with the Amadiba Crisis Committee and Wild Coast communities in their ongoing struggles, including resistance to proposed titanium mining and the coastal highway, which communities fear is designed to drive extractive activities.

While we celebrate this victory, we nonetheless recognize that this is not the end; the struggle continues. We the People stands with frontline communities defending their land, livelihoods, cultures and future against destructive mineral extraction.

Grace Appolos, Esq.

For: We the People and the Global Network of Resistance to Shell

grace@wtp.ngo; +2348126219019

Nonhle Mbuthuma

For Amadiba Crisis Committee, South Africa, and the Global Network of Resistance to Shell

nonhlembuthuma@gmail.com; +27734262955