Legislation

The National Heritage Resources Act

Heritage Western Cape is mandated to implement and enforce the NHRA (25 of 1999) at a provincial level.

Delegations to Staff and Committees
The Council has delegated certain functions to committees and its staff which conduct aspects of its business, specifically relating to applications, reports and other business of HWC under the terms of the National Heritage Resources Act.

Delegations to Municipalities
In terms of Section 6(a)ii of the National Heritage Resources Act. HWC may recognise a municipality as being competent to perform certain functions under the NHRA and in terms of Section 6(c) it may delegate further responsibilities if the municipality is willing to accept them. Where a municipality has not applied for recognition of competency or been delegated powers it may not make decisions concerning heritage resources and is obliged to ensure that HWC has made its decision on the matter prior to granting its own consent for any development or authorisation of plans submitted to it.

In the Western Cape to date only the City of Cape Town has been assessed as being competent to perform certain function under the NHRA. No powers have yet been delegated to a municipality. The effect of the above is that applications for all areas covered by the NHRA must be made to HWC. This includes the City of Cape Town.

Offenses and Penalties

Who is responsible for ensuring that the necessary consents are required in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act?

There is no specific individual who is responsible. It is the duty of all concerned with a project to ensure that a permit or other consent has been acquired. In the case of failure to do this HWC is likely to instigate legal proceedings against all parties involved with a project, including the owner, occupant, contractor, architect, etc.

What are the penalties for ignoring the provisions of the National Heritage Resources Act?

The NHRA has many innovative ways of dealing with those who ignore its provisions. Over and above the usual fines and/or prison sentences, there are among others the following:
- HWC may ask a court to declare equipment, eg: vehicles, construction plant, metal; detectors, etc, used in the commission of a crime forfeit.
- Those who wilfully neglect protected sites, can be forced make repairs and if they fail to do so HWC may undertake the repairs itself and claim the costs from the offender and can do so through a court if necessary.
- Those who damage protected sites can be required to rebuild as per the original, or, if the site is not possible or practical to do this, the value of the damage, will be assessed as a Rand value and the offender penalised accordingly.
- In certain instances offenders can be penalised on an incremental scale for each day that they remain out of compliance.

I suspect that an offence that has been committed in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act. How do I take the matter up?

The Act specifically states that any citizen may lay a charge and we encourage individuals and heritage organisations to do this. If you are unclear on whether or not an offence has been committed you are welcome to seek advice by contacting our office. If you do lay a charge, please inform us of the particulars and case number so that we can follow up and try to ensure that it is properly investigated. Additionally you may inform the Heritage Authority anonymously using the report Illegal work function on this site.

Legislation & Regulations: 

Policy and Guidelines: 

AttachmentSize
PDF icon STATEMENT BY MEMBER OF COUNCIL RE CONDUCT.pdf214.65 KB
PDF icon 2_1_1 Approved_CommunicationsProtocol_June2015.pdf532.28 KB
PDF icon 2_2_1 Code of Conduct Rev 3 August 2011.pdf190.06 KB
PDF icon 2_2_2RULES OF ORDER AND CONDUCT OF MEETINGS ADOPTED 03 12 2016 (2).pdf181.96 KB
PDF icon 2_2_3 Policy Appointment of Council Committees.pdf157.63 KB
PDF icon 2_2_4 DELEGATIONS OF HERITAGE WESTERN CAPE 3 December 2016 signed.pdf207.07 KB
PDF icon 2_2_6 Final Guidelines for HIAs_15June2016.pdf175.23 KB
PDF icon 2_3_1 Signed Heritage Agreement HWC and SAHRA 2012 on Grade 1 Areas_0.pdf411.23 KB
PDF icon 2_3_2 Policy Fees for Applications Revisions.pdf190.96 KB
PDF icon 2_3_3 HWC Reimbursement Application Form.pdf193.09 KB
PDF icon 2_3_4 Policy Heritage Inspectors.pdf128.59 KB
PDF icon 2_3_5 Policy Marking of sites final.pdf209.62 KB
PDF icon 2_3_6 Grading_Implications and Management_Approved.pdf527.22 KB
PDF icon 2_3_8 Approved_SiteInspectionGuidelines_June2015.pdf319.98 KB
PDF icon 2_3_9 Guidelines_Monuments&Memorials_Eng.pdf364.04 KB
PDF icon 2_4_1 Policy Remuneration of Members.pdf1.19 MB
PDF icon 2_5_1 PAIA Manual_March2015_Approved.pdf489.92 KB
PDF icon 2_5_2 PAIA APPLICATION FOR HWC_June 2018.pdf311.69 KB
PDF icon 2_6_1 HWC Public Consultation Guidelines_June 2019.pdf126.85 KB
PDF icon Guidelines for NID and HIA Submissions_Feb 2021.pdf149.32 KB
PDF icon HWC Minimum Standards for APM Reports_June 2021.pdf313.68 KB
PDF icon Policy Heritage Inspectors_February 2022.pdf225.42 KB
PDF icon Heritage-Regulations-Gen-2022 consultation S 30 & 31.pdf463.6 KB
PDF icon Approved HWC Delegations_Jan 2023 approved on 26 January 2023.pdf362.17 KB
PDF icon HWC Minor Works Guidleline_March 2023.pdf308.77 KB
PDF icon Appeals Procedure June 2023.pdf150.03 KB
PDF icon HWC Delegations_May 2023_WD.pdf366.09 KB
PDF icon HWC Delegations_Feb 2024_WD.pdf387.06 KB
PDF icon Policy for placing resources on the Heritage Register_27 Nov 2024.pdf179.21 KB
PDF icon Procedure for placing resources on the Heritage Register_27 Nov 2024.pdf162.54 KB

Procedures: