Pretoria - Cabinet has welcomed the approval of a new buffer zone for the Mapungubwe World Heritage site.
The World Heritage Committee of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), which held its 38th Session in Doha, Qatar, from 15 - 25 June 2014, approved the buffer zone.
“The new buffer zone is the result of a long consultation process involving land owners, community representatives, non-governmental organisations, mining companies and various government stakeholders,” Communications Minister Faith Muthambi said at a post Cabinet briefing on Thursday.
She said the approval of the new buffer zone is a welcome development for South Africa’s efforts to improve the management and protection of its world heritage sites, while allowing for responsible and sustainable development.
Mapungubwe was declared a World Heritage site by the Unesco in July 2003.
Mapungubwe is set against the northern border of South Africa, joining Zimbabwe and Botswana. It is an open, expansive savannah landscape at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers.
It was the centre of the largest kingdom in the sub-continent before it was abandoned in the 14th century.
The Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape demonstrates the rise and fall of the first indigenous kingdom in Southern Africa between 900 and 1 300 AD. The core area covers nearly 30 000 ha and is supported by a suggested buffer zone of around 100 000 ha.
The Mapungubwe site and the buffer zone are legally protected meaning that mining or prospecting will be completely prohibited from taking placing within the property and the buffer zone.
Any development with a potential impact on the property will be subjected to an environmental impact assessment.
SANParks is the management authority for the property and provides overall management involving coordinating government and local community efforts to conserve the site.
Mapungubwe means "Hill of the Jackals” and has been named MK by archaeologists studying the region. – SAnews.gov.za
