Case Decision - 355732

Final Comment:

The following comments are made as 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 EIA and EMPr.

• 38(4)a – The SAHRA Development Applications Unit (DAU) has no objections to the proposed development;
• 38(4)b – The recommendations of the specialists are supported and must be adhered to. Further additional specific conditions are provided for the development as follows: 
• It is noted that a permit application has been submitted for the relocation of impacted 60 graves (SAHRIS Case ID: 23076). This application is under review by SAHRA pending outstanding information to be supplied by the applicant;
• Site VP8 must be preserved in-situ and avoided by the buffer zone of at least 25 m, or it must be relocated on a suitable approach through social consultation;
• A section 35 permit must be obtained from SAHRA for any work that will disturb or destroy the 11 historical sites identified as there is an option to avoid them with a 30m buffer-zone;
• 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 (John Pakwe 0638941979 / [email protected] ) must be alerted as per section 35(3) of the NHRA. Non-compliance with this 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: 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; 
• Given that the EIA is finalized, these comments must be sent directly to the consenting authority for their consideration as per section 38(8) of the NHRA;
• The decision regarding the EA Application must be communicated to SAHRA and uploaded to the SAHRIS Case application.