Case Decision - 196098

The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) is writing in response to a letter received regarding the comment that was issued by SAHRA in relation to the Final Scoping Report and plan of study for EIA for the Proposed Gas to Power via Powership Project at Port of Ngqura within the Coega SEZ, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
As part of the project a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) was undertaken for the terrestrial based activity to assess any possible impacts on heritage, though no work was undertaken to assess any maritime impacts.
In December 2020 the MUCH unit at SAHRA issued a comment in response to the Final Scoping report for the above project. The comment indicated that the MUCH unit considered the possibility of any impact on maritime heritage resources to be low. However, it was recommended that the laydown area for the pipeline must be surveyed for heritage resources prior to the laying of the pipeline.
A subsequent letter was submitted to SAHRA written by Maritime Archaeologist Vanessa Maitland. It indicated that both areas proposed for the laying of the pipeline have been extensively dredged far below the historic ground level and therefore it is extremely unlikely that any heritage resources remain.
She recommends in her letter that the inshore excavations for the pipeline should be monitored by an archaeologist as wooden wreckage was noted in this area during the removal of the County of Pembroke shipwreck. This recommendation is also included in the Archaeological Impact Assessment and is supported by SAHRA.
SAHRAs initial comment indicated that a survey should be done prior to the laying of the pipe, however, given the information provided subsequently, SAHRA agrees that this is no longer necessary.
While the possibility of encountering heritage resources is considered low, there is still a chance that historic remains could be uncovered during the works. In this case all works must cease and may not commence until SAHRA has been contacted to advise the way forward.
Please note that all updates or changes to the project, all supporting documents, correspondence, and reports relating to the work (particularly the Environmental Impact Assessment to be undertaken) must be uploaded to the case on SAHRIS in order to provide SAHRA with the opportunity to comment.