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Mail & Guardian
engenlatest news & developments
Shell’s recent announcement that it is leaving the country is likely to set off mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity as the oil and gas company sells its refinery and service stations during the divestiture. (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
ANGLO AMERICAN

Explainer: Understanding mergers and acquisitions

M&A activity in South Africa experienced a sharp decline in 2023 and a rebound in 2024 is only plausible after the elections

  • Anathi Madubela
4 min read
After 60 years of air pollution by oil refineries, it will take Wentworth residents at least two generations to reverse epigenetic changes. Photo: Supplied
ASTHMA

Big oil’s generational curse: Pollutant-related epigenetic changes keep South Africans in poverty

After 60 years of air pollution by oil refineries, it will take Wentworth residents at least two generations to reverse epigenetic changes.

  • Angelo C Louw
9 min read
The South African Petroleum Refineries, which boasted 35% of the country’s crude oil-refining capacity, announced that production had stopped at the end of March. Photo: ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images)
AIR QUALITY

New clean fuel standards could be the end of refineries and lead to job losses

In the absence of mechanisms to recoup investment into cleaner fuels, refineries may be faced with tough decisions

  • Tunicia Phillips
4 min read
Motorists can expect relief at the fuel pumps in October, with the price of all grades of petrol and diesel set to decrease from Wednesday
ZUMAUNREST

Fuel shortages loom as unrest forces SA’s largest refinery to shut

Sapref declares force majeure, shutting down 35% of SA’s fuel supply

  • Sarah Smit
3 min read
In 2024, global coal consumption reached a record high, with commercial banks investing more than $130 billion across Asia, the US and Europe.. (Paul Botes)
CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Coal industry under increasing pressure to focus on a just transition

As investors ditch fossil fuels, environmental lobby groups are using advocacy and litigation to force SA’s biggest polluters to change their ways

  • Chris Gilili
3 min read
Years of poor maintenance at Engen’s Durban plant caused pollution and December explosion
ENGEN

Blast rocks Durban’s Engen refinery

Residents are being evacuated as firefighters battle to control the blaze

  • Paddy Harper
3 min read
Elevated levels of sulphur dioxide emitted by Durban’s Engen refinery since it resumed operations last month, after it shut down when the Covid-19 lockdown started, have sparked a wave of respiratory illness and other health problems among residents of Wentworth and the Bluff. (John McCann/M&G)
COVID 19

South Durban chokes as Engen refinery starts up

Covid-19 brought clear skies when industries shut down, but then came what residents call waves of filthy air that made them sick

  • Paddy Harper
5 min read
KwaZulu-Natal shows that leukaemia is 24 times higher here than anywhere else in the country. Half the schoolchildren in the area suffer from asthma.
ALLEN HOLMES

Rights group wins court bid against Engen

The Right2Know Campaign has been allowed to join a court case against Engen, which used the Regulation of Gatherings Act to ban protests outside its Durban refinery

  • Paddy Harper
3 min read
Restricted: The South Durban Basin Community Development Trust is challenging the Gatherings Act, arguing that it contradicts sections of the Bill of Rights, which includes the right to protest. (Delwyn Verasamy/ M&G)
AIR POLLUTION

Durban smokestacks back in court

Engen will oppose the application by civil rights nonproft Right2Know to be a friend of the court in the precedent-setting case

  • Paddy Harper
3 min read
Cost of profit: Rwanda’s fortunes have turned around since President Paul Kagame took office in 2000. But his government has been criticised for being authoritarian and limiting democracy. (Jean Bizimana/Reuters)
ENGEN

Rwanda’s gingerbread house

Kigali is flashing its sweetest smile to foreign firms, but there may be cracks in the image it’s presenting

  • Tshegofatso Mathe
6 min read
Pravin Gordhan. (Oupa Nkosi/M&G)
ENGEN

Reluctance to follow due process in nuclear, PetroSA deals says Gordhan

Pravin Gordhan says there was a reluctance to follow due process in the PetroSA-Engen and Russian nuclear deals

  • Gemma Ritchie
5 min read
KwaZulu-Natal shows that leukaemia is 24 times higher here than anywhere else in the country. Half the schoolchildren in the area suffer from asthma.
ENGEN

Court stops protests

Vopak was granted an interim order to stop any further marches, protests or blockades

  • Paddy Harper
1 min read
KwaZulu-Natal shows that leukaemia is 24 times higher here than anywhere else in the country. Half the schoolchildren in the area suffer from asthma.
ENGEN

Wentworth residents blame violence at Engen on the police

They have also accused Engen of going to court to ‘silence’ ongoing protests by residents

  • Paddy Harper
2 min read
A South Durban organisation is applying to join the high court battle between petrochemical giant Engen and Wentworth residents. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
DURBAN

Wentworth residents gain ally in battle against Engen

Last month Engen secured an interim order, barring members of the South Durban Basin Community Development Trust from protesting

  • Paddy Harper
2 min read
KwaZulu-Natal shows that leukaemia is 24 times higher here than anywhere else in the country. Half the schoolchildren in the area suffer from asthma.
DURBAN

Interdict adds extra fuel to Wentworth residents’ ire

On Monday, an interim interdict banning residents from holding unauthorised protests at the refinery was granted

  • Paddy Harper
3 min read
The woman
CANCER

When the penalty is death

The locals call it cancer valley — and there are few safe places to kick a football around

  • Paddy Harper
4 min read
Two ambulances leave from Tham Luang cave complex in the northern province of Chiang Rai
ENGEN

Reparations row dogs petrol giant

The push by Wentworth residents for Engen to give them a stake in the company has prompted it to take them to court to halt their protests

  • Paddy Harper
6 min read
ENGEN

Engen condemns attack on petrol attendant

No arrests have been made in the attack of a petrol attendant and the Engen group says it is "appalled" by the assault.

  • Ina Skosana
1 min read
Police are investigating a case of assault after what appears to be a racially-motivated attack on a petrol attendant by a group of bikers.
ENGEN

Racist assault caught on camera: Bikers attack attendant

Police are investigating a case of assault after what appears to be a racially-motivated attack on a petrol attendant by a group of bikers.

  • Ina Skosana
2 min read
AIR POLLUTION

Cancer valley pays a high price for South Africa’s oil needs

Respiratory illnesses are taking their toll on South Durban residents, but petrochemical firms deny culpability and won’t cough up for health costs.

  • Sipho Kings
14 min read