Case Decision - 196785

The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) would like to thank you for submitting a Draft Basic Assessment Report (DBAR) under section 38(8) of the National Heritage Resources Act, No 25 of 1999 (NHRA) for a Prospecting Right Application for South African Sea Area 4C and 5C, West Coast, South Africa.The application pertains to prospecting activities that would be conducted in two phases over a span of five years. The first phase entails exploration sampling using coring, wide spaced sampling, geophysical surveying, and/or infill surveying. It is assumed that the sampling would see up to 22 500 samples being obtained in a cumulative non-contiguous area of disturbance approximately 0.225km2 in size. The geophysical surveying would be conducted via multibeam swath bathymetry (including backscatter); sub-bottom profiler seismic systems; side scan sonar systems; and electrical, magnetic, and electro-magnetic systems. These tools would be employed from a variety of platforms, including towed systems, vessel mounted, pole mounted, as well as autonomous underwater and surface vehicles. The second phase is desktop based and aims to assess the economic viability of the mining deposits.Although the Namaqua Fossil Forest Marine Protected Area (MPA) is located within the targeted prospecting area, the DBAR mentions that the MPA as well as the extension of the associated Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA) has been excluded from the application.A heritage impact assessment (HIA) for Sea Concession 4C, 5C, and 6C was conducted in 2017. This HIA found that at least five vessels wrecked in the Sea Concession areas 4C, 5C, and 6C and that a further 28 vessels might have wrecked somewhere in the area. The HIA furthermore recommended that if any heritage resources are encountered a management plan must be developed. If any heritage resources, including but not limited to wreckage and/or archaeological objects, are discovered these must be reported to SAHRA immediately in line with section 35(3) of the NHRA and these may not be removed, destroyed, or interfered with by anyone on site.SAHRA has reviewed the DBAR and is satisfied with the recommended mitigation measures set out under section 7.8 in the report which specifies the procedure to be followed if any heritage resources are encountered during the pre-sampling exploration phase of the project. These mitigation measures must be adhered to, and any discoveries must be reported to SAHRA immediately.However, SAHRA has noted inaccurate information in the report which needs updating. On page 118 under the heading ‘Shipwrecks’ the estimated number of shipwrecks along the South African coastline is listed as 2000 when the number is in fact closer to 2800. Furthermore, the National Monument’s Council ceased to exist in 2000 when the promulgation of the NHRA established SAHRA as the national heritage resources authority. All wrecks and associated artefacts older than 60 years are considered archaeological and are therefore provided protection under section 2 and 35 of the NHRA as opposed to having National Monument Status as indicated in the DBAR. These above points must be amended in the final report.If any wrecks are encountered, the location and associated data used to identify the wreck must be provided to SAHRA. Should any shipwrecks be identified as part of this project then SAHRA must be notified to enable the information to be added to the national shipwreck database. Any new discoveries or updated data is a valuable resource in adding to our knowledge of South Africa’s maritime history.Please also note that all updates and/or changes to the project, supporting documentation, correspondence, reports, or any other work relating to the project must be uploaded to the case on SAHRIS to provide SAHRA with the opportunity to comment. SAHRA does not accept emailed documents or hard-copy documents received via post.