Case Decision - 348629

For the purposes of this letter, we shall distinguish between two phases of the project as set out in the Project Design document, namely the GPS survey (hereafter referred to as ‘Phase 1’) and the excavation (hereafter referred to as ‘Phase 2’).

We have reviewed your application and can advise as follows:

You are advised that a permit is not needed to perform Phase 1 of the project as the methods described in the Project Design attached to the application do not trigger Section 35(4d) of the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA), which states that one may not-

“bring onto or use at an archaeological or palaeontological site any excavation equipment or any equipment which assists in the detection or recovery of metals or archaeological and palaeontological material or objects, or use such equipment for the recovery of meteorites.”

For the purposes of this application, a handheld GPS and camera are not considered items which aid in the detection (or recovery) of metals or archaeological material.

SAHRA cannot grant a permit for a site at which the presence of archaeological material has not been established. We take this opportunity to reiterate the provisions of Section 9.6 of the Wreck Resources Permit Policy (hereafter referred to as ‘the Policy’), which states that-

“Any application for a permit to excavate, test excavate, film, rescue relocate, and/or conserve any wreck site must make clear reference to the name of the site and be linked to the SAHRIS site ID before submission. Where no recorded site exists, a new site recording must be created by the applicant.”

As the existence of a shipwreck survivor camp at the coordinates provided has not been determined, SAHRA is unable to issue a permit for Phase 2 of the project at this time.

Should an archaeological site be found during Phase 1 of the project, we advise that this permit application and the attached Project Design may be amended to reflect this new information. The identified site must be recorded, created as a new site on the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS), and the application must be linked to it. 

If Phase 1 of the project results in no archaeological site being identified, you may request reimbursement of fees paid.