Heritage Cases

PGS Heritage was appointed by Msobo Coal (Pty) Ltd to undertake a heritage impact assessment of their property on the farm Voorslag 274 IS, that will be impacted upon by their open cast mining expansion. The heritage assessment revealed that two of the structures located at the site MSO01, stone packed kraal and “waenhuis” dates to the period 1910 – 1920 are therefore older than 100 years and a permit is required from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) for their demolition. This requirement is in terms of section 35 of the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA). A combination of desktop and archival research together with a site assessment was undertaken by an experienced team comprising a heritage specialist / archaeologist and an architectural historian. M. Naudé was appointed by PGS Heritage (Pty) Ltd to conduct the architectural heritage assessment of the farm buildings (MSO01) on The Farm Voorslag 274 Breyten District that will be impacted by the proposed New Mining Pit For Msobo Coal (Spitzkop Colliery), Near Ermelo. Naudé (2021), identified twelve (12) different structures related to site MSO01. • Structure (building) 1 – dwelling (MSO-01a): the building consists of the remains of the principal dwelling on the farmstead. All windows, doors, roof trusses and roofing materials have already been removed from the structure and it is hard to tell the date of the building and it is almost impossible to describe the building in terms of its style and period characteristics. According to the size and scale of the windows the building may date from the period 1955-1975. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance, . • Structure (building) 2 – dwelling annex: the annex served as a separate dwelling unit but completely detached from the principal dwelling. It had a flat roof but all the trusses, roof covering, doors and windows have been removed from the structure. It has a concrete floor and the walls were constructed with cement brick blocks. Dating the building is difficult as all the features installed in the structure have been removed. According to the sizes of the windows, it is assumed that it was erected more or less at the same time as the dwelling, 1955 to 1975. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. • Structure (building) 3 – baking room: this is a peculiar little single room building with an exceptionally low roof. It has a flat roof with gum-pole beams and covered with corrugated iron sheeting. It contains no exceptional architectural features that would suggest another use than baking. It is constructed with baked bricks and the exterior is whitewashed. A unique feature of the building is the small fireplace with the character of a hearth but two openings on the outside of the chimney structure. This site has medium scientific and low and aesthetic significance. • Structure (building) 4 – Service rooms (MSO-01b): typical of all households on a farm, the kitchen activities are executed in several outbuildings. These activities include separating milk, the processing of fresh meat, baking and additional storage done separately from the kitchen as larger quantities of fresh meat and other foods are handled on a farm. For such activities a detached building with separate uses or separate buildings with a specialised use are erected near the backdoor of the dwelling and form part of the backyard arrangement of the farmstead. This building may have been used for such purposes and is therefore only referred to as a service room. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. • Structure 5 – water reservoirs (MSO-01c): this cluster of structures reserved water and served the household with fresh water. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. • Structure 6 – Stock kraal (MSO-01d): a large enclosure is located north west of the dwelling. It was constructed with a variety of materials including sections constructed with unplastered bricks, sections constructed by prefabricated concrete slab walling and some sections with plastered brick walling. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. • Structure 7 – Cattle kraal (MSO-01e): The cattle kraal is unique due to its size but even more significant due to the material it was constructed with. The entire kraal consists of stacked chunks of ferricrete (or ouklip). This is not a common building material due to its inherent qualities for not being able to be cut into square or neat rectangular blocks. This kraal is constructed with roundish shaped ferricrete chunks and all the walls are dry-stacked instead of constructed with mortar. The structure may represent one of the oldest construction works on the farmstead and may date to the period 1915 to 1920. As such it is possible that this site is older than 60 years This site has high scientific and low and aesthetic significance. • Structure (building) 8 – waenhuis: from an architectural perspective, the small waenhuis is the most significant building on the farmstead. The vernacular architecture on farmsteads in the eastern Highveld region north of the Vaal River during the 19th but especially the 20th century has been characterised by the common occurrence of stone masonry buildings and structures. Any type of building or structure was constructed with stone available in the region and or uniquely present on every farm. The most significant type of stone used for construction was sandstone and the best examples of buildings constructed with sandstone are those constructed with neatly dressed sandstone blocks often sized and shaped to serve a particular structural purpose. The waenhuis represents one of these building types and is a good example of how neatly dressed sandstone blocks were used. In this case as base for walling of the waenhuis, forming a plinth for brick walling that extend up to ceiling height. The original waenhuis building may date to the period 1915 to 1935 while the additions may date to the period 1960 to 1975. As such it is possible that this site is older than 60 years. This site has high scientific and medium and aesthetic significance. • Structure 9 – carport: This is a recent structure of which only two walls have remained intact. It was used as a carport for vehicles and consisted of two side walls constructed with unplastered brick, some cylindrical pipe supports for the lightweight roof while the front and back remained open. The structure may date to the period 1970 to 1985. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. • Structure (building) 10 – Lamb house (MSO-01g): the building consists of a single room with a flat roof. It is isolated from the farmstead and no other buildings, structures or activity areas are located around or adjacent to it. The structure is dilapidated and unsafe with structural cracks along several elevations. This site has medium scientific and low and aesthetic significance. • Structure 11 – cattle dipping tank: although dipping tanks are considered engineering structures and were normally constructed according to the specifications of an agricultural engineer, a manual for farmers or guided by knowledgeable individuals of the local agricultural Co-operative, they often reflected some ingenuity of the farmer and the final product sometimes deviated from the prescribed specifications in terms of size, scale and use of building materials. This dipping tank was constructed according to standard size and specifications, with plastered cement bricks. It is not an exceptional structure. It may date to the period 1945 to 1965. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. • Structure (building) 12 – workers dwelling (MSO-01g): this is a small dwelling for a family who worked on the farm. It is constructed with cement bricks similar to most of the other more contemporary buildings on the farmstead. It had a flat roof covered with corrugated iron sheeting, but the trusses and roof covering have been removed and only the walls have remained. Window and doors frames have also been removed and the date of the building is hard to determine. This site has low scientific and aesthetic significance. As most of the buildings and structures are in ruin but some still contain and represent ample evidence of their contribution to architectural history especially the vernacular architecture of the farmstead and the wider region, some form of recording is the only way the buildings can be preserved and appropriately memorialised. On behalf of the applicant, the owner, Msobo Coal (representative Mr Awande Nojekwa), we hereby respectfully submit for a permit to demolish the two structures that are older than 100 years (structure 7 and structure 8), as required in terms of section 35 of the National Heritage Resources Act, No 25 of 1999.