THE JOINDER APPLICATION

This fact sheet by Natural Justice details a legal challenge brought by The Green Connection (TGC) and Natural Justice (NJ) against the environmental authorisation granted to Total Energies EP South Africa Block 567 (Pty) Ltd for oil and gas exploration off the Western Cape coast. It specifically addresses a joinder application by Total to include Shell in the proceedings following Total's July 2024 announcement of its withdrawal from block 567.

• The Green Connection (TGC) and Natural Justice (NJ) filed for judicial review in March 2024 with the Western Cape High Court to challenge the environmental authorisation (EA) granted to Total Energies EP South Africa Block 567 (Pty) Ltd in April 2023 for exploration drilling between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas.
• Total Energies announced its decision to withdraw from offshore exploration block 567 in July 2024, where it held a 40% interest. Consequently, Total filed a joinder application on 11 April 2025 to include Shell as a party in the court challenge, claiming Shell is a joint holder of the exploration right and current Operator of the Joint Venture.
• TGC and NJ oppose the joinder of Shell on three grounds: the main challenge concerns the EA granted to Total rather than the exploration right, the exploration right has lapsed, and the application is inconsistent with Total's previous pleadings and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report.
• The judicial review is based on six grounds, including the EIA Report's failure to assess socio-economic impacts of oil spills on small-scale fishers, failure to consider factors in the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act (ICMA), and failure to consider climate change impacts from burning discovered gas.
• Additional review grounds include the failure to assess transboundary impacts on Namibia and international waters, the exclusion of Blow Out and Oil Spill Contingency Plans from the EIA Report, and the claim that the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA) acted outside its mandate during the appeal process.

APA

Natural Justice (2024). THE JOINDER APPLICATION. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fact-Sheet-_Block-567-Final.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. THE JOINDER APPLICATION. 2024. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fact-Sheet-_Block-567-Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Natural Justice |title=THE JOINDER APPLICATION |date=29 July 2024 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fact-Sheet-_Block-567-Final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{naturaljustice2024joinder, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{THE JOINDER APPLICATION}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Fact-Sheet-_Block-567-Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }