Case Decision - 199471

Final Comment
The SAHRA Development Applications Unit notes and accepts the submission of the draft EIA, and HIA reports. SAHRA has no objections to the proposed development on the following conditions:
38(4)a – The SAHRA Development Application 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. These further additional comments apply:The ECO must regularly monitor the development footprint to implement the Chance Find Procedure for heritage and Palaeontology resources (outlined in Section 10.2) in case heritage resources are uncovered during the course of construction,Recorded heritage features should be indicated on development plans and construction crews should be made aware of expected resources and applicable mitigation measures,An archaeologist must be appointed to undertake a final walk-down of the western portion of the proposed developmentThe report must be submitted to the case,If any sites are uncovered during monitoring then a section 35 of the NHRA permit application in terms of Chapter IV of the NHRA 2000 Regulations must be applied for any test excavations for further investigation activities that involve test excavations or full mitigation of any exposed resources.BGG Comments:Site VF003 must be investigated further to determine if there is a burial or not through a social consultation process as defined by Chapter XI of the NHRA 2000 Regulations and test excavation. A SAHRA permit must be obtained for the test excavation activities as required.  A section 36 of the NHRA permit application in terms of Chapter XI of the NHRA 2000 Regulations must be applied for by a suitably qualified archaeologist if the developer is unable to retain the graves in situ,The relevant families must be informed of the proposed development prior to the commencement of construction activities.Any grave relocations must be undertaken by a qualified archaeologist,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.