A coalition of South African civil society organisations has launched an urgent appeal to Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA) CEO Dr Bongani Sayidini, demanding the immediate rejection of a proposed ownership transfer of Block 1 in the Orange basin to Israeli company Navitas Petroleum.

Block 1 is a 19 929 km² offshore oil and gas exploration block located on the South Africa-Namibia maritime border in the Orange basin and the coalition warns that approving the ownership deal would make South Africa complicit in supporting the Israeli State, directly violating international legal obligations and domestic constitutional duties.

The coalition includes prominent groups such as the South African BDS Coalition, Masifundise Development Trust, Natural Justice, and the Climate Justice Coalition.

The organisations stressed South Africa’s strong historical support for the Palestinian struggle for self-determination as they argued that the government has a binding duty to prevent complicity in genocide, apartheid, and illegal occupation.

According to Navitas Petroleum, a significant number of Israeli institutional and private investors hold equity or debt in the firm.

Because energy is critical for military operations, the coalition argues that allowing a company heavily tied to Israeli finance to operate in South African waters contradicts the country's foreign policy and international legal stances.

“Right now, as Israel is continuing the genocide in Gaza, escalating ethnic cleansing, and expanding its illegal occupation, it is beyond urgent that we end our complicity and sanction Apartheid Israel. It is unconscionable that the South African government can even consider allowing a company that profits the genocidal state to export ‘ecocide’ to our shores,” said South African BDS Coalition's Roshan Dadoo.

The coalition has specifically requested that Mantashe and Sayidini establish where the petroleum extracted from Block 1 will be sold and refined, how the project will be financed and taxed and who will ultimately benefit from the profits.

CLIMATE RISKS

Beyond geopolitical concerns, the transfer poses severe threats to marine ecosystems, local fisheries, and coastal communities across South Africa and neighbouring Namibia.

Civil society groups emphasise that the extraction would cause irreversible harm to oceans and the global climate system.

The coalition points to the recent landmark Constitutional Court ruling in the Wild Coast case as a binding legal precedent.

The apex court ruled that offshore oil decisions require deliberate public consultation and cannot sideline environmental risks in favour of commercial interests.

Delme Cupido of Natural Justice (Cape Town) warned of the legal fallout.

“In authorising this transaction and the activities underlying them, South Africa risks being in violation of its international treaty obligations, and now also its own domestic law as set out by the Constitutional Court, and therefore being held responsible for the climate harm that will inevitably flow from them,” he said.

The coalition is demanding full transparency and a fair, meaningful public participation process that allows for supplementary submissions.

It argues that small-scale, subsistence, and customary fishers, whose livelihoods and cultural practices depend entirely on the marine environment, must not be sidelined.

The civil society groups have set a deadline, requesting a formal response from Mantashe and PASA by August 31.