1. RICHTERSVELD CULTURAL AND BOTANICAL LANDSCAPE
The 160,000ha mountainous desert constitutes a cultural landscape communally owned and managed. This site sustains the semi-nomadic pastoral livelihood of the Nama people, reflecting seasonal patterns that may have persisted for as long as two millennia.
2. CAPE FLORAL REGION
One of the world's great centres of terrestrial biodiversity ... [with a] significant number of endemic species associated with the fynbos vegetation, which is unique to the Cape Floral Region.
3. ROBBEN ISLAND
"Its buildings, particularly those of the late 20th century, such as the maximum-security prison for political prisoners, witness the triumph of democracy and freedom over oppression and racism."
4. KHOMANI CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
The large expanse of sand boardering on Namibia and Botswana contains evidence of human occupation from the Stone Age to the present and is associated with the culture of the formerly nomadic Khomani San people and the strategies that allowed them to adapt to harsh desert conditions.
5. VREDEFORT DOME
A representative part of a larger meteorite impact structure, or astrobleme. Dating back 2,023 million years, it is the oldest astrobleme yet found on Earth. With a radius of 190km, it is also the largest.
Vredefort bears witness to the world's greatest-known single-energy-release event, which had devastating global effects. It is crucial to our understanding of the evolution of the planet.
The area contains essential elements that define the origin and evolution of humanity. Says Unesco: "The fossil evidence contained within these sites proves conclusively that the African continent is the undisputed Cradle of Humankind."
6. FOSSIL HOMINID SITES
Encompassing the sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai and environs together with Makapan Valley and Taung Skull Fossil Site are where abundant scientific information on the evolution of modern humans over the past 3.5 million years was uncovered.
7. ISIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK
The activities of wind, rivers and the ocean here have produced a variety of landforms, including coral reefs, beaches, and coastal dunes, along with exceptional species diversity and breathtaking scenic vistas. The site contains critical habitats for a range of species from Africa's marine, wetland and savannah environments.
8. MALOTI-DRAKENSBERG PARK
The Maloti-Drakensberg Park is a transboundary site composed of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg National Park in South Africa and the Sehlathebe National Park in Lesotho.
With exceptional natural beauty, the site's diversity of habitats protects a high level of endemic and globally important plants as well as endangered species such as the Cape vulture and the bearded vulture.
9. MAPUNGUBWE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
This expansive savannah landscape at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers developed into the largest kingdom in the subcontinent before it was abandoned in the 14th century.
What survives are the almost-untouched remains of the palace sites and also the entire settlement area dependent upon them, as well as two earlier capital sites. Together, they present an unrivalled picture of the development of social and political structures over some 400 years.
• Source: whc.unesco.org..