OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTUOANE EXPLORATION RIGHT 386 APPLICATION, WITHIN VARIOUS FARMS IN MATJHABENG AND MOQHAKA LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, LEJWELEPUTSWA AND FEZILE DABI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES, FREE STATE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of MACUA and MEJCON-SA and jointly with Natural Justice, submitted formal objections to the Motuoane Exploration Right 386 application. The submission argues that the project's scoping report is deficient in its assessment of climate change, air quality, and groundwater impacts, and that the public participation process was exclusionary and legally inadequate.

• The objectors argue that the project's climate change assessment is premature and contradictory, noting that the Scoping Report claims the addition of up to 11 drilling wells will have a 'low negative to insignificant cumulative impact' on emissions while simultaneously stating that activities will 'result in an increase of gas emitting wells substantially'.
• The submission criticizes the proposed method of estimating climate impact by comparing project emissions to national or global emissions, asserting that this approach is not a useful basis for decision-making. They recommend using the social cost of carbon (SCC) and the mortality cost of carbon (MCC) to quantify societal and health impacts.
• The objectors highlight a lack of baseline air quality monitoring in the region and demand the installation of monitors to assess ambient concentrations of pollutants, specifically prioritizing the city of Welkom due to wind patterns that blow pollution toward the city.
• The submission asserts that the baseline hydrogeological investigation is insufficient because it relies on regional analogues rather than site-specific data. They call for site-specific monitoring boreholes, isotopic and tracer analysis, and expanded testing for radionuclides and hydrocarbons.
• The objectors challenge the 'need and desirability' of the project, arguing that the proponent failed to consider renewable energy alternatives or the economic risks of locking South Africa into a long-term fossil fuel-based energy system as the world shifts away from such systems.
• The public participation process is described as 'legally inadequate and substantively exclusionary' due to restricted access to the Scoping Report (only one hard copy in a local library), inaccessible meeting venues for township residents, and the dominant use of English over local languages like Sesotho and Afrikaans.
• The submission claims that the project may violate the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (IPILRA) because the proponent identified landowners through property registries but failed to identify or engage lawful occupiers or persons with informal or customary land rights.
• The objectors state that South Africa lacks the regulatory capacity to monitor oil and gas operations, noting that while there are 94 Environmental Mineral Resource Inspectors (EMRIs), all are designated for mining and none for the oil and gas sector.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2025). OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTUOANE EXPLORATION RIGHT 386 APPLICATION, WITHIN VARIOUS FARMS IN MATJHABENG AND MOQHAKA LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, LEJWELEPUTSWA AND FEZILE DABI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES, FREE STATE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-and-MACUA-with-NATURAL-JUSTICE_MOTUOANE-SR-OBJECTIONS.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTUOANE EXPLORATION RIGHT 386 APPLICATION, WITHIN VARIOUS FARMS IN MATJHABENG AND MOQHAKA LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, LEJWELEPUTSWA AND FEZILE DABI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES, FREE STATE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA. 2025. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-and-MACUA-with-NATURAL-JUSTICE_MOTUOANE-SR-OBJECTIONS.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTUOANE EXPLORATION RIGHT 386 APPLICATION, WITHIN VARIOUS FARMS IN MATJHABENG AND MOQHAKA LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, LEJWELEPUTSWA AND FEZILE DABI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES, FREE STATE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA |date=18 June 2025 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-and-MACUA-with-NATURAL-JUSTICE_MOTUOANE-SR-OBJECTIONS.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2025objections, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{OBJECTIONS TO THE MOTUOANE EXPLORATION RIGHT 386 APPLICATION, WITHIN VARIOUS FARMS IN MATJHABENG AND MOQHAKA LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES, LEJWELEPUTSWA AND FEZILE DABI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITIES, FREE STATE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CER-obo-MEJCON-SA-and-MACUA-with-NATURAL-JUSTICE_MOTUOANE-SR-OBJECTIONS.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }