South African groups oppose Israeli-linked oil company Navita’s rights to operate

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - South African civil society groups on Monday petitioned the government, asking it to revoke the operating rights granted to the Israeli-linked oil company Navitas Petroleum.

In May, the company applied to acquire a 37.5% stake in a block in South Africa’s strategic Orange Basin on the west coast, and the request was granted last month.

In a petition to Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe, activists demanded that he urgently stop the Israeli fossil fuel company from operating in South African waters.

The campaigners said it was absurd that South Africa, which strongly advocates for and supports Palestinian rights, had granted operational rights to a company that enables the continued oppression of Palestinian people.

“In allowing an Israeli company to profit from South Africa’s fossil fuel resources, South Africa is directly undermining its international and domestic legal obligations and moral standing on Palestinian liberation, human rights and environmental justice,’’ the groups said in a joint statement.

In December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accusing it of violating its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention over its war on Gaza.

In August 2026, South Africa submitted a dossier to the ICJ regarding Israel’s non-compliance with provisional measures ordered in relation to its case against Israel to protect Palestinian people from genocide.

Roshan Dadoo, of the South African BDS Coalition said it was sad that South Africa, a champion of Palestinian rights, still exports coal to Israel instead of imposing an energy embargo.

"It is outrageous that we are allowing Navitas rights over our natural resources - this further weakens our international standing," she said in a statement.

The activists also said approval of Navitas’ application would contribute significantly to climate change and have severe long-term impacts on human rights and the environment.

The block Navitas plans to explore lies in an ecologically and economically significant marine region of the Orange Basin off South Africa’s west coast near its maritime border with Namibia.

The Orange Basin has emerged as a significant oil and gas exploration frontier, with estimates of several billion barrels of oil.

In July, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the Orange Basin as “one of the world’s most promising new energy frontiers.”

Delme Cupido of environmental group Natural Justice said communities on the West Coast have persistently opposed fossil fuel development through government processes and have been consistently ignored.

“The cumulative impacts of all proposed extractive activities in the region over the long term have not been assessed,’’ he said, adding that these activities also have an impact on cultural heritage.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court recently ruled that oil giant Shell could not continue offshore exploration along the country’s ecologically sensitive Wild Coast in Eastern Cape Province, ending a years-long legal battle.

Environmental activists and local communities approached the court in 2021, arguing that Shell’s seismic surveys threatened the marine environment and harmed communities that depend on the sea for their livelihoods.