Case Decision - 356104

Interim Comment

The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) notes the submission of the Heritage Scoping (HS) report and requests that the HS be expanded to an integrated Phase 1 Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) including findings of a walkdown of final project impact areas to document all sites, features and objects.

The assessment must be conducted by a qualified archaeologist and the report comply with the SAHRA 2007 Minimum Standards: Archaeological and Palaeontological Components of Impact Assessment Reports. The assessment must include the track logs of the area to be surveyed.                    

The proposed development is located within an of Moderate Palaeontological Sensitivity as per the SAHRIS PalaeoSensitivity map. Therefore, a desktop study is required. The assessment must be undertaken by a qualified palaeontologist. The report must comply with the 2012 Minimum Standards: Palaeontological Components of Heritage Impact Assessments. 

Any other heritage resources as defined in section 3 of the NHRA that may be impacted, such as built structures over 60 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.

The applicant is advised to extend the EA process in terms of section 19(1)b of the NEMA EIA regulations in order to address this comment. Further comments will be issued upon receipt of the above requested reports and the DEIA inclusive of appendices.