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The residents of Port St Johns in the OR Tambo District (Greater Transkei region) in the Eastern Cape have welcomed and supported the Upstream Petrolium Resources Development Bill. The Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy conducted public hearings on the Bill in the Port St Johns Town Hall on Thursday.

The participants thanked the committee for selecting Port St Johns as one of the towns for public hearings on the Bill. They told the committee that the Bill’s stipulation that the state will control 20% of petroleum and gas on behalf of the people and the separation of petroleum and gas from other mineral resources was good news to them. They also welcomed and supported the authorisation of Petrolium Agency of South Africa (PASA) to issue licences.

They said the Bill promises hope of a better future as it is promises the creation of economic opportunities and the removal of historical barriers that kept the indigenous people away from their natural resources. In supporting the Bill, the participants, who included business representatives, urged the committee to pass to Parliament their call for the capacity of the Port St Johns Parliamentary Constituency Office (PCO) to be improved.

If the PCO was more effective, they said, the people of Port St Johns would have a better familiarity and understanding of the Bill and they would then be able to make contributions that would add value to the Bill. Residents urged the committee to ensure that the Bill focuses more on local economic development.

Some participants in the public hearings opposed the Bill on the basis of their fear that the domination of the big, well-established petroleum and gas companies will continue. They also fear that petroleum and gas businesses will kill their traditional local fishing business. Participants criticised the lack of a mention of cooperatives in the Bill, only companies and said that PASA should license South Africans only, not foreigners. They also called for the composition of the committee to include a member from the local municipality.

The Chairperson, Mr Sahlulele Luzipho, called on residents to express their views freely on the Bill. However, if they have service delivery-related issues on matters that are outside the Bill, they can raise them afterwards, he said. He told them that the committee will deliberate on the Bill once the public hearings are completed.

The committee will today conduct public hearings in East London, at the East London Town Hall at 10 am. All interested people and organisations are invited to participate in the hearings and express views on the Bill.

Issued by The Chairperson of The Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, Sahlulele Luzipho