Case Decision - 198527

Final Comment
The following comments are made as a requirement in terms of section 3(4) of the NEMA Regulations and section 38(8) of the NHRA in the format provided in section 38(4) of the NHRA and must be included in the Final OEMPr:

38(4)a – The SAHRA Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites (APM) Unit has no objections to the proposed management actions pertaining to the impact to heritage resources in the OEMPr;
38(4)b – Further additional specific conditions are provided for the development as follows:
A permit in terms of section 35 of the NHRA and Chapter II and Chapter IV of the June 2000 Regulations must be applied for from SAHRA in order to mitigate sites S46 and GPS48 should they be impacted by the development;
A Heritage Management Plan must be compiled and submitted to SAHRA for review for the rock engravings sites S47-ENG7 and S48-ENG8;
As the requested palaeontological field-assessment (as requested in the Interim Comment issued for SAHRIS Case ID 2005 on the 04/06/2013) was not conducted prior to the construction of the now completed development, future operational activities that have not been authorised as part of the EA and trigger s38(1) of the NHRA or have not occurred yet, must be assessed for impacts to palaeontological resources prior to the activities commencing. This report must be submitted to SAHRA for comment and approval prior to these activities commencing;
As per the Interim Comment issued for SAHRIS Case ID 2005 on the 04/06/2013, palaeontologist must inspect fresh excavations undertaken in the fossil-bearing Teekloof Formation. Inspection reports must be submitted to SAHRA;
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/ Ngqalabutho 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 of the NHRA regarding offences;
38(4)e – The following conditions apply with regards to the appointment of specialists:
With reference to the mitigation work noted above, a qualified archaeologist must be appointed to undertake the work in terms of the permit applied for as noted above;
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 OEMPr must be submitted to the SAHRIS application for record purposes.