ABSTRACT
The promulgation of the Environment Conservation Act was responsible for the origins of contract archaeology in South Africa. In South Africa, Archaeological Impact Assessments (AIAs) are part of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), but both the environmental and heritage legislation can trigger impact assessments in the country. The relevant environmental laws are the Environment Conservation Act and the National Environmental Management Act. For heritage and as intimated above, the applicable laws are the NHRA and the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Act. Under the heritage legislation, heritage agencies are the deciding authorities, whereas under the environmental legislation, they are merely commenting authorities as the deciding powers are vested with the relevant environmental authorities be they provincial or national. While South Africa is experiencing a surge in the demand for contract archaeology, the training of contract archaeologists is lagging behind this boom.
