Case Decision - 198673

Final Comment
The SAHRA Development Applications Unit (DAU) notes and accepts the submission of the Part 2A Amendement report, Palaeontological Desktop Study, and HIA reports. SAHRA has no objections to the proposed development on the following conditions:38(4)a – The SAHRA Development Applications Unit (DAU) and the Burial Grounds and Graves (BGG) Unit has no objections to the proposed development;38(4)b – The recommendations provided by the heritage specialists are supported and must be adhered to. Additional further specific conditions are provided for the development as follows:A 100m buffer zone around site MGSP 3 (a cemetery).A social consultation process in terms of chapter IX of the NHRA 2000 Regulations and section 36 of the NHRA must be followed in order to identify the Next-of-Kin of the site MGSP 9, to confirm if there are any burials associated with the homestead remains. In an event where social consultation fails to identify any graves, test excavation must be conducted to rule out the existence of any graves. If no graves occur then there is no need for grave related mitigation measures.All structures and site layouts from each site must be recorded using standard survey methods. The end result would be site layout plans for all these sites. A mitigation report must be compiled for these sites within which all the mitigation measuresand its findings will be outlined. The recorded drawings from the previous item must also be included in this mitigation report.The completed mitigation report must be submitted to SAHRA for record purposes and it must be submitted to the Limpopo Provincial Heritage Authority (LIHRA). If any buildings or structures older than 60 years are to be disturbed then a section 34 permit application must be submitted to the LIHRA.A stone aged specialist must be appointed to assess site MGSP 4 and the recommendations they provide must be adhered to.A suitably archaeologist must be appointed to undertake an archaeological watching brief is required during construction activities in addition to further assessment of:The sections of the two transmission line corridors not covered during the present fieldwork must be assessed in the field as soon as possible to allow for the mitigation of any sites located there before construction commences.A report of the watching brief and field assessment of the transmission line corridors must be submitted to SAHRA for commenting.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 (Nokukhanya Khumalo/Natasha Higgitt 021 202 8660) must be alerted as per section 35(3) of the NHRA. Non-compliance with section of the NHRA is an offence 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 offence 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;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 decision regarding the EA Application must be communicated to SAHRA and uploaded to the SAHRIS Case application.