Case Decision - 199903

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 BAR and EMPr:

38(4)a – The SAHRA Development Applications Unit (DAU) has no objections to the proposed development with exceptions as noted below;
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:
Once the locations of the drill sites, site camp, ablution facilities, site office and storage areas are established, an archaeologist must survey each location and compile an HIA to be submitted to SAHRA for review and comment prior to construction. No construction activities may occur without comment from SAHRA in this regard;
SAHRA does not endorse the proposed trenching, pits and box cuts at this stage. Prior to these activities commencing, a Visual Impact Assessment must be conducted on the impact of these activities on the Wildebeestkuil Rock Art site. A heritage specialist must use these results to compile an updated HIA which must include a field assessment and the results of consultation with the Wildebeestkuil Rock Art Center staff and other interested and affected parties. This updated HIA must be submitted to SAHRA for comment. No trenching, pits or boxcut may commence without comments from SAHRA in this regard,
SAHRA reserves the right to impose additional conditions on the development based on the results of the pre-construction survey for Phase 3 and the additional HIA for Phase 4 and 5. SAHRA reserves the right to object to the development based on the results of these reports;
Dust during construction and operations must be kept to a minimum. Dust suppression measures must be implemented to reduce any dust fallout on the Wildebeestkuil Rock Art site;
SAHRA must be informed when drilling starts and ends;
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 DAU (Natasha Higgitt 021 8660/ [email protected]) must be alerted as per section 35(3) of the NHRA. Non-compliance with this 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 DAU (Natasha Higgitt 021 8660/ [email protected]) must be alerted immediately as per section 36(6) of the NHRA. Non-compliance with this 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 BAR 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.