a) Vredefort Dome will be proclaimed as soon as consensus is reached with the landowners on critical issues around governance and management models, and in particular the establishment of the Management Authority. Landowners have demanded that proclamation and governance issues be addressed simultaneously. This is despite a previous arrangement that the proclamation of the Site be processed while the resolution of the governance issues is underway; and
b) Government is not delaying the proclamation of the site as a heritage site. As indicated above, the differences in governance modalities need to be resolved with the landowners associations prior to the proclamation being effected. The Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has made efforts to create the space for these to be addressed. However, the declarations of dispute by the landowners contribute to the slow pace in finalising the proclamation process. Failure to address these issues may lead to the undesirable withdrawal of the site from the UNESCO.
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