Shell’s exploration right allowing it to seismically blast the ecologically sensitive Wild Coast was granted in the face of farcical consultation with affected rural communities, and no regard for the principle of sustainable development or the devastating environmental harm it would cause.

These were some of the submissions made in the Gqeberha high court on Monday, where environmental groups, community groups and fishers are asking for the government’s 2014 decision to grant the exploration right — as well as the subsequent 2017 and 2020 decisions to renew it — to be set aside...