Case Decision - 198619

Interim CommentThe SAHRA APM Unit notes that there are known cultural and/or heritage resources in the project area and there is potential impact on these resources. Therefore, the following needs to be undertaken in terms of section 38(3) of the National Heritage Resources Act (25 of 1999) as part of the EA application process.As the previously undertaken HIA assessment study was undertaken more than 10 years age (2010), SAHRA request that an updated heritage impact assessment be conducted for the proposed expansion of mining activities for. A field-based  assessment of the impact to archaeological resources must be conducted by a qualified archaeologist. The report must comply with section 38(3) of the NHRA and the SAHRA 2006 Minimum Standards: Archaeological and Palaeontological Component of Impact Assessments, and the 2012 Minimum Standards: Archaeological Component of Heritage Impact Assessments. The Minimum Standards provides allowance for a Letter of Recommendation for Exemption that can be submitted by a qualified archaeologist should they deem it appropriate.
The assessment should include any other heritage resources that may be impacted such as built structures over years old, sites of cultural significance associated with oral histories, burial grounds and graves, graves of victims of conflict, and cultural landscapes or viewscapes must also be assessed.
Further comments will be issued upon receipt of the above requested report and the submission of the draft EIA with appendices.