Hobeni is a small village on South Africa’s Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape, part of the seven Dwesa-Cwebe communities. Residents have historically depended on the Mbashe River and the ocean for sustenance and spiritual practices, governed by customary law.

The Dwesa-Cwebe people have faced multiple dispossessions, beginning with forced removals in the name of conservation from the 1890s to the 1970s. In 2000, the area became a marine protected zone, banning fishing and shellfish harvesting. Despite a land claim victory in 2001, tensions persisted, highlighted by the 2010 arrest of Malibongwe David Gongqose for fishing. In 2018, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the coexistence of customary law and conservation, affirming the communities' traditional marine resource rights.

When Shell initiated a seismic survey off the Wild Coast without consulting the communities, the Dwesa-Cwebe Communal Property Association challenged it in court. In September 2022, the high court ruled Shell's exploration rights were unlawfully granted, emphasizing the community's duty to protect their ancestral and marine resources.

Climate change, driven by fossil fuel extraction, threatens these coastal communities, placing them at the forefront of the climate crisis exacerbated by South Africa’s push for marine oil and gas.

These photographs were made through a grant I received from the Pulitzer Center.