Environmental activists protest against Standard Bank and Total Energies over fossil fuel financing
Image: Supplied: Zaki Mamdoo/ StopEACOP
A coalition of activist groups, Stop East African Crude Oil Pipeline (StopEACOP) embarked on a protest in Johannesburg with the intention of voicing their frustrations against Standard Bank and Total Energies for their alleged exploitative and non-environmentally friendly activities in Africa.
According to StopEACOP, Standard Bank has positioned itself as a chief accomplice to Total Energies' wreckage across the African continent and is bankrolling the exploitation, destruction and harm imposed onto so many communities.
In a memorandum on Tuesday, the coalition said to Total Energies: "We, organisations, communities and ordinary people from across South Africa and the African continent, are united in our unequivocal condemnation of Total Energies and its destructive fossil fuel operations.
"As communities and activists demonstrate, come together and speak out through this week of action (18-24 August 2025), we send a clear and urgent message that Total must back off."
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Zaki Mamdoo, a coordinator of the StopEACOP outlined that the demonstration, part of a continentwide Week of Action (August 18-24), calls on the bank to sever ties with the oil giant over alleged plundering and ecological destruction across Africa.
Expressing contentment and hope to succeed, the coalition said: "We welcome the decision of the Western Cape High Court setting aside the exploration right granted to Total Energies and its partners to pursue offshore oil and gas drilling along South Africa's southwest coast.
The court found that the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) and Total Energies failed to adequately consult affected communities and ignored the serious environmental and climate risks posed by the project.
This judgment is a victory for coastal communities, small-scale fishers, and environmental defenders who have long resisted the imposition of destructive projects that threaten their livelihoods, marine ecosystems, and our collective future."
Activists protest against Total Energies and Standard Bank
Image: Supplied: Zaki Mamdoo
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