South African Laws regarding Metal Detecting?

[devan]

Hi Guys,

I got my MD about 2 weeks ago, took it to a local park and to the beach and I am hooked to the hobby, now I need some
members input from South Africa about South African Laws regarding Detecting in Parks, open Spaces ect, Private property is easy,
just need permission from the owner, but I want to concentrate on our local parks and so on.

Any help will be appreciated as I cannot find anything on Google

regards

Devan

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

Not sure specifically about South Africa, but it may well be, that you may never find anything specifically referring to metal detecting (as in ..... anything that prohibits it, per se). But you may run into something regarding archaeologically significant items, or cultural heritage, or perhaps the govt. owns all the resources (oil, etc...) that are found under the ground, etc.... So too might someone in the United States run into such things, if he were to morph things far enough, and ask enough questions. That is to say: even though it's generally accepted here, that no one cares less if you ply the parks for old coins, change, and an occasional ring, yet I bet if any of us here started asking enough questions, showing off enough of our old coins, and dropping key words like "arpa", "artifact", and "enriching ourselves at the government's expense", then ...... probably some desk-bound bureaucrat might say "you can't do that". But notice: no one cared (in this micro-example) till someone asked, and begged for someone to morph something silly to apply to them.

I say that, just so you can put into context, anything you might find in the laws there, and think might be applied to you. So too is it in other European countries, where ....if an outsider were to look at the federal level rules in those locations, that *could* be applied to metal detecting, he might walk away thinking it's totally illegal, or dire at best. Yet detecting goes on all the time in those places (barring of course at obvious historical monuments, posted sites, etc...), and .... as long as you're not Mel Fisher bringing up gold bars, or someone raiding the pyramaids, ... well, you get the picture. Ie.: they're working so far back in the forest, or private farmer's fields with permission, that no one really gives it a second thought (or even notices to begin with).

 

[warsawdaddy]

Look for pgill on this forum.(Peter can give you a lot of info as he lives there and is a super nice person)
You can find him here-
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,21424.0.html

 

[devan]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your help

I PM'ed Peter and hope to get a reply soon.

I guess this is one huge grey area regarding government and the implementation of laws specific to one area / activity, don't
want to end up with slap on the hand & a free jail ticket for vandalism

Thanks again guys,

Devan

 

[Silki]

Hi Devan !
I am also in South Africa - only about 1 month into this hobby ! Nobody really knows about legal status of metal detecting here and nobody really cares as far as I realised ! - Of course as long as it is not private property or National Monument! I was in Sodwana 2 weeks ago and except few friendly questions from some lades and one question from the beach guard didn't had any problems ! Well , all I got it was about R 45 in new coins and some diving weights , but I am still very enthusiastic ! Yesterday I tried some public area around Witbank Dam ( I am staying in Witbank ) but it is so polluted with bottle caps and all imaginable Trish than after about 1 hour I couldn't dig anymore ! Wishing U good luck and will be in contact!
Simon : tel 082 373 3055

 

[Sandman]

Listen to Tom in CA and don't bring to much attention to yourself. It is only a hobby finding lost coins and junk, right. Your not hunting for the Lord's Challis. Welcome to the Forum Silki

 

[Silki]

Thank U Sandman for yours wellcome !
U guys in US are very lucky with lots of coins , jewellery and other stuff under yours feet ! Guys in England got even more ! It is amazing what they are digging there - all the way from the prehistoric times . I spend hours reading all this stories ! Well , we are not so lucky here , in South Africa , our history does not include much of iron and gold ! But still , it is lovely hobby and time with yours detector outdoor it is still very good time ! Good luck to You and it feels good to be part of this international community !

 

[devan]

Hi Simon,

Good to see someone from SA Also a new hobby for me, have had my MD for only about 3 weeks now.

So far no-one approached me regarding MDing except for the few 'normal' questions.

I tried a beach in Port Elizabeth, but to no avail, only some clad. I had much more luck in an open field in the centre of Uitenhage
in total so far about 60 coins from RSA - UNION and about 35 coins in Clad and 2 Sterling Silver rings.

I have your number and will PM mine to you, once you're in the Port Elizabeth / Uitenhage area, call me.

And welcome to TNet

regards

Devan

 

[XDM]

Hi Guys I'm new to the forum but not new to metal detecting any how I also live in South Africa and as far as the rules and regulations go I have no idea I have never been bothered but then I must say that I live out in a small town in the Eastern Cape also I spend a lot of my time building them and not as much as I'd like using them never figured out how to do both at the same time

Regards XMD

 

[mjmj]

Hey everyone.

Do you guys know about the SA laws regarding SA war sites (like the Anglo Boer War site)? Does one need permission to dig there?

 

[Darrenjay]

Treasurehunters.co.za/forums south african forum for metal detectors, we often hunt boer war sites

 

[M Scott @ FTP]

I have been detecting for gold in NW African countries 3 times in the past 16 months. While its pretty much a new thing I don't think they have much for laws in the bush searching for gold but I am not sure about anything else. I did have to get special government permission in Guinea at one point because it was illegal in certain times of the year. Gold prospecting had become so popular that people were out searching for gold while no one was farming in the farming season which for a very poor 3rd world country was a recipe for disaster. The President put a ban on metal detecting for certain months and then opened it up again after the farming season had ended. SA has lots of gold bearing regions, if it were me I would be searching for nuggets but would make sure to stay clear of land controlled by some of the big mining conglomerates which I believe is a vast majority as they don't take trespassing lightly and you would be lucky to be fined and thrown in jail. I have heard stories of some that did this and paid the ultimate price never to be heard from again.......Be very careful.

 

[chase25101950]

Hi guys...

I'm not much into the detecting thing, but I'mfrom south aAfrica cape town, I struck what I think is a treasure trove, but need to know the laws if its on the beach in a hole in rocks... can anyone help me if its possible to claim it? I'm finding it really difficult to get answers or where to go...

Please help!!
Email: chase_1@live.com

Thank you and wish u guys all the best on your finds.

 

[Diona]

Port Elizabeth

Hi Devan

I'm new to the hunting scene and I'm in Port Elizabeth. Do you have any pointers for me?