Case Decision - 195766

Interim Comment
The SAHRA Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites (APM) Unit must note that SAHRA is only mandated to comment in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act, Act 25 of 1999 (NHRA). The original application and submitted AIA were conducted prior to the promulgation of the NHRA, and therefore is not compliant with the current legislation.
As the EMP for the existing MR is being updated to address a management change, it will also need to take into account new legislation published since the original authorisation was granted. In order to meet the requirements of the NHRA, the SAHRA APM Unit requests the following:

An updated Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) that complies with section 38(3) of the NHRA and SAHRA 2007 Minimum Standards: Archaeological and Palaeontological Components of Impact Assessment Reports. The previously identified sites are to be verified, and reassessed with regards to their significance and all possible impacts that may occur/have occurred, in order to recommend mitigation measures. Additionally, new sites may have been uncovered since 1999 due to erosion. Other heritage sites such as sites of cultural significance associated with oral histories, and cultural landscapes or viewscapes must also be assessed;
The HIA must include a desktop assessment of the impact to palaeontological resources as the development footprint is located within areas of moderate and unknown sensitivity for palaeontological resources. This report must be conducted by a qualified palaeontologist and the report must comply with the 2012 Minimum Standards: Palaeontological Components of Heritage Impact Assessment;
A report detailing the damage to sites noted in the DSR must be submitted, with maps of the sites in relation to the mining activities and photographs of the damage. This report must be compiled by an archaeologist and include mitigation measures to repair/mitigate the damage and further damage;
Additionally, the responsible party must provide clarity whether the recommendations provided in section 9.1 of the 1999 AIA report were implemented, and if not, motivation as to why this did no occur.

The above requested reports must be compiled and included as part of the draft EIA phase of the EA application. The draft EIA and all appendices must be submitted to the SAHRIS application so that an informed comment may be issued.
Further comments will be issued upon receipt of the above requested documents.