Case Decision - 197021

Final Comment
The following comments are made as a requirement in terms of section 3(4) of the NEMA Regulations and section 38(8) of the NHRA in the format provided in section 38(4) of the NHRA and must be included in the Final BAR and EMPr:

38(4)a – The SAHRA Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites (APM) has no objections to the authorised development;
38(4)b – The recommendations of the specialists are supported and must be adhered to. Further additional specific conditions are provided for the development as follows:
A walk-down survey must be undertaken by a qualified archaeologist and the report must be submitted to SAHRA prior to the construction phase for comment.
If it is not possible to adhere to a 100 m buffer around the farmstead structure, a permit must be applied for from Heritage Free State in terms of section 34 of the National Heritage Resources Act.
A walk-down survey must be undertaken by a qualified palaeontologist and the report must be submitted to SAHRA prior to the construction phase for comment.
It is noted that option 2 and 3 are preferred over option 1. Therefore, if the palaeontologist finds that the chosen option affects the fossil finds, a permit application for mitigation must be applied for from SAHRA.
38(4)c(i) – If any evidence of archaeological sites or remains (e.g. remnants of stone-made structures, indigenous ceramics, bones, stone artefacts, ostrich eggshell fragments, charcoal and ash concentrations), fossils or other categories of heritage resources are found during the proposed development, SAHRA APM Unit (Sityhilelo Ngcatsha/Phillip Hine 021 462 5402) must be alerted as per section 35(3) of the NHRA. Non-compliance with section of the NHRA is an offense in terms of section 51(1)e of the NHRA and item 5 of the Schedule;

38(4)c(ii) – If unmarked human burials are uncovered, the SAHRA Burial Grounds and Graves (BGG) Unit (Thingahangwi Tshivhase/Mimi Seetelo 012 320 8490), must be alerted immediately as per section 36(6) of the NHRA. Non-compliance with section of the NHRA is an offense in terms of section 51(1)e of the NHRA and item 5 of the Schedule;
38(4)d – See section 51(1) of the NHRA;
38(4)e – The following conditions apply with regards to the appointment of specialists:
i) If heritage resources are uncovered during the course of the development, a professional archaeologist or palaeontologist, depending on the nature of the finds, must be contracted as soon as possible to inspect the heritage resource. If the newly discovered heritage resources prove to be of archaeological or palaeontological significance, a Phase 2 rescue operation may be required subject to permits issued by SAHRA;
The Final BAR and EMPr with the  conditions provided by SAHRA in this comment along with the Environmental Authorisation (EA) must be submitted to SAHRA for recorded purposes.