Civil society and environmental organisation The Green Connection reports that fishers in the Saldanha Bay, Coega and Richards Bay regions were vindicated in their fight to protect their livelihoods against potential environmental damage if ship-borne power stations of Turkey-based powership company Karpowerships was permitted to operate in the area.

The Green Connection says fishers were legitimately concerned about the negative impacts these ships would have on the ocean, and that Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy made the right decision in declining Karpowership’s appeal application against its failure to get environmental authorisations to operate in Saldanha Bay, Coega and Richards Bay.

Earlier in August, The Green Connection received correspondence from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, confirming that Karpowership had failed in its appeal to the department.

Karpowership, which planned to supply additional electricity to South Africa using its powerships, was unable to overturn an earlier environmental ruling against its plans.

According to The Green Connection strategic lead Liziwe McDaid, Creecy’s decision comes to an “overwhelming conclusion” that gaps in information and the procedural defects are “material and fatal and cannot be cured during the current appeal process”.

“In our view, [Creecy’s] decision to uphold her department’s rejection of the Karpowership project is totally correct,” she says.

The Green Connection community outreach coordinator Neville van Rooy adds that Creecy’s decision vindicates the small-scale fishers who were not properly consulted.

“We also expressed the importance of the need to do an underwater noise study to assess the impact of the Karpowership project on the fish on which small-scale fisher livelihoods depend,” he says.

Van Rooy also notes that, as per the appeal decision, “no so-called development project decisions, made by any arm of government, can trample over environmental rights”. He says the flaws of the environmental impact assessment are many and laid out for all to read.

Mass-based community organisation Coastal Links Saldanha Bay fisherwoman Carmelita Mostert says the organisation is happy with Creecy’s decision. “Finally, some good news for women on the coast. It gives us hope and relieves a lot of stress that our oceans and marine life will be protected and that we can continue to provide for our children and our communities from the harvest of the sea.”

Coastal Links Langebaan fisherwoman Solene Smith agrees with Creecy’s decision, saying that, from the beginning, the Karpowership project will have a disastrous impact on South Africa’s oceans, and that the dangers it poses could “quite literally mean the end of our communities”.

“We urge the government to look for greener, sustainable power solutions instead,” she says.

Coastal Links Saldanha Bay youth representative Natalie-Jane van Wyk says Coastal Links considers the development a huge win for local and affected communities because the “protection of the environment is fundamental to the existence of our communities”.

She adds that Coastal Links will continue to stand together to fight against oil and gas companies who threaten the environment. “We urge the government to embark on projects that protect and restore key eco-systems in our area.”

Eastern Cape Environmental Network (ECEN) representative Vuyiseka Mani says the organisation is also happy with Creecy’s decision, especially since ECEN was not informed or invited to the public participation meeting regarding the Karpowership project.

“We will continue to fight for our voices to be heard. We will not stop picketing, and we will not stop petitioning and demonstrating. We will keep fighting for our rights, until the government takes our concerns about the environment seriously, instead of forcing projects on us which could damage the oceans and our communities,” she adds.

The Green Connection says its legacy programme has been instrumental in mobilising young activists and small-scale fishers to protect South Africa’s oceans.