Case Decision - 197957

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

38(4)a – The SAHRA Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites (APM) Unit and Burial Grounds and Graves (BGG) Unit has no objections to the proposed 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 buffer of 30 m must be maintained around the Stone Age site of medium significance and the two built structures;

If it is not possible to avoid the above sites, permits in terms of section 35 of the NHRA must be applied for the mitigation of the Stone Age site and the two built structures as they are older than 100 years. These permits must be applied from SAHRA and must be applied for prior to the construction phase;

BGG Unit conditions: The identified burial ground must be avoided with a buffer-zone of 100m, a fence with access gate erected, and Heritage Management Plan (HMP) developed for long terms preservation of the site. Development activities must be closely monitored for possible unknown graves; 

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 (Natasha Higgitt/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/Ngqabutho Madida 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 regarding offences;

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 EMP must be submitted to the SAHRIS application for record purposes;

The decision regarding the PR application must be submitted to the SAHRIS application for record purposes.