Case Decision - 199288

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 EIA and EMPr:

38(4)a – The SAHRA Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites (APM) 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:
The three identified heritage sites must be avoided with a no-go buffer of 30 m. Should it not be possible to avoid the three identified heritage sites, permits for mitigation in terms of section 35 of the NHRA and associated Regulations must be applied for from SAHRA prior to the vegetation clearance phase. No mitigation work or vegetation clearance at the identified sites may occur without permits issued in this regard;
Due to the low coverage of the site assessment due to dense vegetation, an archaeologist must be appointed to conduct a watching brief during the vegetation clearance phase. The archaeologist must be present for all vegetation clearance activities. A Chance Finds Procedure must be implemented should heritage resources be uncovered during this process. A Watching Brief Report must be submitted every three months for the duration of the vegetation clearance phase. SAHRA reserves the right to impose additional conditions to the development based on the results of the watching brief and reserves the right to object to the development should highly significant heritage resources are identified during vegetation clearance;
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 021 202 8660) 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 EIA must be submitted to the SAHRIS application for record purposes;
The decision regarding the EA application and PR application must be submitted to the SAHRIS application for record purposes.