The Act and its Regulations

The Heritage Resources Management System
SAHRA Vision

To Provide for the identification, conservation, protection and promotion of our heritage resources for present and future generations

The Act and its Provisions
Brief Synopsis of Heritage Management System

The Act puts in place a system for the protection and management of South Africa’s heritage resources. This system is in line with the Constitution of South Africa in that it defines functions and responsibilities in terms of the two tiers of governance, National and Provincial.

The Act broadly defines heritage resources (See Annexure), provides criteria for levels of management at National and Provincial levels, and allows for delegation of certain functions to competent local authorities by Provincial Heritage Resources Authorities.

The Act requires Provinces to set up Provincial Heritage Resources Authorities to carry out these functions. These may be established by regulation under the National Act, or by separate Provincial Legislation.

The Act expands on the management of heritage resources in three areas:

Lowest appropriate level of management (National, Provincial and Local)
Integration with environmental management and planning
Involvement of local communities in heritage management
Specific requirements placed on State and State-supported bodies responsible for owning/managing heritage resources

The Act and its regulations provide for automatic or general protection of certain types of heritage resources, while other heritage resources require gazetting as declared sites by the responsible heritage resources authority in order to be protected.

Any change to a heritage resource requires a permit issued by the responsible heritage authority. Failure to adhere to the NHRA is a criminal offence and a perpetrator may be liable to a fine and imprisonment

General Functions of SAHRA are to: (Section 13)

(1)

(a) establish national principles, standards and policy for the identification, recording and management of the national estate in terms of which heritage resources authorities and other relevant bodies must function with respect to South African heritage resources;

(b) co-ordinate the management of the national estate by all agencies of the State and other bodies and monitor their activities to ensure that they comply with national principles, standards and policy for heritage resources management;

(d) advise, assist and provide professional expertise to any authority responsible for the management of the national estate at provincial or local level, and assist any other body concerned with heritage resources management;

(e) promote and encourage public understanding and enjoyment of the national estate and public interest and involvement in the identification, assessment, recording and management of heritage resources;

(f) promote education and training in fields related to the management of the national estate; and

(g) perform any other functions assigned to it by this Act or as directed by the Minister.

(2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1) and in addition to the general powers and duties conferred in terms of section 25, SAHRA-

(a) must investigate and advise the Council on-

(i) the state of South Africa's heritage resources and any steps necessary to protect and conserve them;

(ii) national policy for the management of the national estate;

(iii) legislative amendment and enactment for the management of the national estate;

(iv) the repatriation of heritage resources which have been removed from South Africa and which SAHRA considers to be significant as part of the national estate;

(v) the role of the national estate in the development and promotion of a cultural profile for South Africa;

(vi) action and expenditure by the State for the identification and management of heritage resources, including financial incentives and concessions for heritage resources management;

(vii) education and training at all levels to promote the effective identification and management of the national estate;

(viii) any matter related to the operation of this Act; and

(ix) any other matter pertaining to the national estate or its management;

(b) must establish and maintain, for its own use and for the use of all heritage authorities and bodies and the public, the national heritage resources library, including documentary and other records relating to the national estate;

(i) the development of a national strategy for the identification and assessment of heritage resources;

(ii) the establishment and funding of a standing South African Heritage Resources Survey which is tasked with annual projects aimed at identifying, assessing and documenting heritage resources;

(iii) the co-ordination and support of initiatives by provincial heritage resources authorities, any other bodies and persons to survey and record heritage resources;

(iv) the administration, co-ordination and funding of projects and research programmes aimed at the creation of graphic and other records of heritage resources;

(v) training programmes and other relevant activities aimed at conserving and documenting traditional South African building techniques and structural forms;

(vi) promoting the identification and recording of aspects of living heritage associated with heritage resources; and

(vii) projects aimed at increasing the volume and detail of information held in the inventory of the national estate referred to in section 39; and

(d) must prescribe national norms and standards for the recording of information about heritage resources in data bases maintained by itself and by provincial heritage resources authorities.

Definitions of Roles

Major role-players in Heritage Resource Management are:

SAHRA
Provincial Heritage Authorities
Local Government
Owners
NGOs
Public / Communities

The Roles of these bodies can generally be divided into

Proactive Management Roles - relating to identification, declaration, policy, awareness, presentation, interpretation

Reactive and Protection Management Roles - relating to applications for alteration, demolition or export involving administration of Protections under the Act. This involves decisions whether or not to issue Permits.

Proactive Management Roles
SAHRA	Coordination of Management of the National Estate Declaration and Management of National Heritage Sites Declaration of Heritage Objects Management of heritage resources protected at national level Setting Policy and Standards Establishing the Inventory of the National Estate Establishing the South African Heritage Resources Survey Managing National Heritage Resources Fund Assisting PHRAs Promoting awareness and education Monitoring heritage management and PHRAs
PHRA	Management and protection of Grade 2 and 3 heritage resources Management of the Register Building of capacity in Local Authorities Identification of Heritage Resources Promoting awareness and education
Local Government	Management of Grade 3 Heritage Resources Declaration and management of Heritage Areas Identification
Owners	Responsibility for maintenance of Heritage Resources
NGOs	Assistance in Identification, and Management Being eyes, ears and watch dogs
Public	Users of Heritage Being eyes, ears, watch dogs

Reactive and Protections Management Roles Exclusive and Concurrent Functions
Section Of Act	Protection	Protection Type	Administrating Authority	Intention of the Protection
27(1)	National Heritage Sites	Formal Protection	SAHRA	Protect and recognize sites of outstanding National Significance
27(2)	Provincial Heritage Sites	Formal Protection	PHRA	Protect and recognize sites of Provincial sphere of Significance
30	Register	Formal Protection	PHRA	Protection and listing of sites of local significance
31	Heritage Areas	Formal Protection	PHRA/LA	Protection of significant areas made up of a number of heritage resources
28	Protected Areas	Formal Protection	SAHRA/PHRA/LA	Protect the environment of a national or provincial heritage site
29	Provisional Protection	Formal Protection	SAHRA/PHRA/LA	Emergency protection of resources under threat or being considered for formal status
35	Archaeological Sites	General Protection	SAHRA (Grade1) PHRA (Grade2)	Archaeological sites are automatically protected
35	Palaeontological Sites	General Protection	SAHRA(Grade1) PHRA (Grade2)	Fossil sites are automatically protected
35	Meteorites	General Protection	SAHRA(Grade1) PHRA (Grade2)	Meteorites are automatically protected
36	Burials	General Protection	SAHRA	Burials over 60 years old are automatically protected
36	Graves of Victims of Conflict	General Protection	SAHRA	Struggle Graves and SA War Graves are automatically protected
34	Structures over 60 years	General Protection	PHRA	Structures over 60 years old are automatically protected. When significant structures have been identified and formally protected this clause will be lifted.
35	Shipwrecks	General Protection	SAHRA	All shipwrecks over 60 years old are protected
32	Formally Protected Heritage Objects	Formal Protection	SAHRA	Outstandingly significant moveable objects may be declared and protected from alteration, destruction or export
32	Heritage Objects	By typology	SAHRA	Certain types of objects are protected from export
38	Heritage Impact Assessment	Activity related requirement	PHRA	Similar to EIA: certain development activities require an impact assessment

Identification (Section 39)

Identification of South Africa’s heritage resources is a shared competence between all levels of heritage management, and is an on going process.

It provides an excellent opportunity for public participation and capacity building.

Identification of heritage resources in the face of development of forward planning initiatives is the responsibility of the proponents.

Identification should be coordinated through South African Heritage Resources Survey as part of the Inventory of the National Estate.

Grading and Declaration (Section 3.3 and Section 27)

All heritage resources must be graded according to their sphere of significance, and appropriately formally protected.

Grading assigns appropriate management levels to heritage resources.

Grade 1	National	National Heritage Site
Grade 2	Provincial	Provincial Heritage Site
Grade 3	Provincial/Local	Provincial Register of Heritage Resources

All sites declared as National Monuments in terms of the National Monuments Act are re-designated as Provincial Heritage Sites in terms of the NHRA, but may be subject to revision.

Declaration as a National Heritage Site, is the highest form of national status assigned to a heritage resource, and is carried out by the SAHRA Council.

It is SAHRA policy that a Conservation Management Plan be drawn up for a potential National Heritage Site as part of the declaration process.

Badges

National Heritage Sites should be marked by a NHS badges. A design has been approved by the previous SAHRA Council.

Provincial Heritage Sites should be marked with a PHS badges.

It is suggested that there should be a connection in design between the various provincial badges and the SAHRA badge.

It is policy that Interpretive Plaques are to be erected at all NHSs in the main languages of the relevant province

Decision-Making within SAHRA

SAHRA makes many decisions affecting South Africa’s heritage as well as citizens’ property rights.

All decisions of SAHRA may be appealed to the Minister of Arts and Culture by an interested body or person.

SAHRA Council sometimes functions by way of an Executive Committee of the SAHRA Council which can make urgent decisions more quickly than the full Council.

SAHRA Council generally appoints specialist Committees and delegates authority to these Committees.

Examples of these Committees are the

Provincial Permit Committees of SAHRA
Archaeological, Palaeontological and Heritage Object Committee
NHS Nominations Review Committee
Appeals Committee