What is a heritage impact assessment (HIA), what did the Vele mission need to study, and what were the findings and recommendations regarding the Mapungubwe site?

Here are the answers to question 5:

a) The name given to the impact study was the heritage impact assessment (HIA).

b) The mission needed to study three things:

• The potential impact of the proposed large-scale coal mining at Vele.
• The buffer zones (pieces of land between two areas).
• The overall state of conservation of the property.

c) The mission found that even after the opencast mines were refilled and replanted, the area would become a cultural landscape of coal mining, not the original archaeological landscape of Mapungubwe. They also noted that the K2 archaeological area had seriously deteriorated and was at risk of being placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. As a result, they recommended that the buffer zone around the site should be increased.