South African bishops protest against proposed oil deal

The Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) on Friday said it was “gravely concerned” that South Africa’s oil parastatal, Soekor, was in the advanced stages of negotiating expansion activities in Sudan. The bishops worried that by negotiating such concessions in a war situation, Soekor would contribute to the escalation of the conflict in Sudan. “We are convinced that oil is at once a major cause of the war and a means used by Khartoum to increase its military capacity,” said Cardinal Wilfred Napier, President of the SACBC, in a press statement. South Africa’s Department of Foreign Affairs told IRIN on Monday that it had no disagreement with Soekor or the Department of Mineral Affairs and Energy. Roger Ballard-Tremmer, Director for its North Africa Desk, said the department had briefed Soekor about the situation in Sudan, which was normal procedure, especially in sensitive situations like Sudan. “We briefed them about the political and the economic situation. We are not prescriptive and we cannot dictate to companies as to where they do business... all we can do is advise them,” he said. Ballard-Tremmer said that no decision was taken by Soekor about their plans in Sudan during that meeting, and that Foreign Affairs would, of course, continue to keep an eye on the situation. [for more details, see separate IRIN story of 23 July headlined “SUDAN: South Africa becomes involved in oil protests’]