Heritage Cases

This report provides the results of an Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA) study for the proposed Koppies electricity substation and associated infrastructures development. The site is located roughly 40 kilometers Southeast of the Vredefort World Heritage site. Further south of the National Road (N1) from Gauteng to Free State. Positioned (one) 1 kilometer east of Koppies airport, alongside the main tarred road which connect Koppies residential areas, which is situated roughly 8 kilometers Northeast of Rooiwal, (See Fig 1) within the Fezile Dabi District Municipality, Free State province, South Africa. As part of the application process and good corporate citizenship, archaeological impact assessment study was conducted as part of the broader Basic Assessment (BA) study which investigate the impact of the proposed development on the receiving environment including heritage resources. As part of Basic Assessments (BA), the applicant is required by law to obtain Environmental Authorization (EA) in line with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulation published in Government Notice R 982 of 4 December 2014 under Section 24(5) of the National Environmental Management Act No. 107 of 1998 (NEMA) as amended in 2017. An application for Basic Assessments has been lodged with the relevant department. As part of the application process, Shumani HSE Consulting were appointed to facilitate the process where they requested Millennium Heritage Group (Pty) Ltd, an independent heritage consulting company to assess the heritage sensitivity of the area. A multi-stepped methodology was used to address the terms of reference. To begin with, a desktop study was carried out to identify any known heritage sites and their significance in the surrounding environment. This involved consulting contract archaeology and paleontological reports filed on SAHRIS, research and academic publications. Finally, the study was guided by the National Heritage Resources Act of 1999 and SAHRA Minimum Standards for impact assessment. Based on this study, the following conclusions were reached:  The proposed development is scheduled to take place on already disturbed, previous agricultural farmland dominated by grassland and isolated Karroo bush and exotic trees (Pine and Eucalyptus trees).  Ground truthing of the area Koppies substation development found no important cultural heritage resource, archaeological materials nor graves.  Although no archaeological remains were found, it is possible that some significant features may be buried beneath the ground. Should buried archaeological materials and burials be encountered during the process of development, the following must apply:  Work must stop immediately. A professional archaeologist or nearest heritage authority must be contacted. Based on this assessment, which found no archaeological resources in this area, we recommend that the heritage authorities approve the project as planned.