Page 50 - Bulletin 9 2005

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Conclusion

South Africa’s shipwreck heritage is unfortunately far from pristine. Wrecks have, for a
very long time, been the preserve of treasure hunters, salvors and divers. South Africa has a

long history of commercial salvage and treasure hunting that dates back to at least the

1720s when John Lethbridge undertook salvage efforts for the Dutch in Table Bay and
around the Peninsula with remarkable success. These attempts at recovery of shipwreck

material targeted commercially valuable items with non-ferrous metals being a prime
objective. Other cargo items such as porcelain that would not be adversely affected by

submersion were also recovered.

Following the invention of Scuba after World War II, salvage became even more

widespread. Access to the underwater environment became possible for anyone
adventurous enough to don the developing apparatus and take the plunge. With increased

access came an increase in the discovery of large numbers of wreck sites. Between the

1960s and 1980s wrecks around the South African coast were heavily looted and a great
deal of historically significant information was lost. More recently, the threat of treasure

hunting and salvage has been replaced by the threat of souvenir hunting, resulting in the
slow erosion of artefacts and the destruction of contextual and micro-information. Souvenir

hunters argue that their activities are low impact actions, but over time wreck sites are
denuded of both historical information and public interest. Many of Cape Town’s most

popular wreck dive sites have been destroyed to the point where divers no longer visit

them.

In response to the problems facing shipwreck sites, South Africa has developed a world-
class protective legislation. The National Heritage Resources Act (no. 25 of 1999) offers a

blanket protection for any wreck older than 60 years. This rolling date applies to all wrecks
within South Africa’s territorial waters and contiguous zone – up to 24 nautical miles

offshore.