Case Decision - 356172

Final Comment

The following comments are made as a 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 EIR 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, the following additional specific recommendations include;
• A 30m buffer around all burial grounds must be demarcated prior to the construction phase;
• If the graves are older than 60 years or unknown and will be impacted by the proposed development then an archaeologist must be appointed to undertake a grave relocation process;
• The appointed archaeologist must undertake a social consultation process in terms of Chapter XI of the SAHRA Regulations 2000 and section 36 of the NHRA, 1999 in order to obtain consent to relocate the graves from the descendant families;
• The appointed archaeologist must apply for a section 36 permit if consent is given in terms of section 36 of the NHRA, 1999;
• A buffer of 30m must be demarcated for site AS014 and the ECO must monitor all construction activities near the site;
• If any of the archaeological sites cannot be conserved in situ then an archaeologist must be appointed to mitigate these sites;
• The archaeologist must apply for a section 35 permit application in terms of Chapter IV of the SAHRA Regulations, 2000 and section 35 of the NHRA, 1999;
• The palaeontological chance finds procedures must be included into the EMPr for implementation; 
• 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 (Boitshepo Motsodisa [email protected] or Natasha Higgitt [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)c(ii) – If unmarked human burials are uncovered, the SAHRA DAU (Boitshepo Motsodisa [email protected] or Natasha Higgitt [email protected]) must be alerted immediately as per section 36(6) 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(1) of the NHRA regarding offences;
• 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 Final EIR and EMPr must be submitted to the SAHRIS Case for record purposes;