Date: 28/01/2003
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: Mabudafhasi: Public hearings on asbestos
ADDRESS BY THE HON REJOICE MABUDAFHASI, MP, DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM OF SOUTH AFRICA, AT THE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON ASBESTOS, 28 January 2003
Ministers
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee
Chairperson of the Select Committee
Representatives from government departments
NGOs, affected communities
Business representatives
I am honoured to be part of this event to reflect on progress made since the Asbestos Summit that was held in 1998. These public hearings will also attempt to present a full picture of the asbestos problem in South Africa, the extent of the health, welfare and environmental pollution problems that exist due to asbestos products in the country. The meeting will also try and address some of the socio-economic issues that have resulted due to deadly asbestos related diseases.
We have therefore come to this meeting to seek and share information so that we can understand and act on the basis of knowledge. This means that we must fully grasp the responsibilities presented upon us by this deadly mineral (asbestos fibres).
Asbestos has been mined in this country for many years. By 1910 five asbestos mines were operating in South Africa. By the 1950s, in other parts of the world such as Britain, companies have become aware that exposure to asbestos is harmful to human health and causes disease. In South Africa this realisation was not embraced so workers continued to remain ignorant of the true dangers of asbestos.
In South Africa the problem is more acute in the Limpompo Province and Northern Cape where reports indicate that children are forever playing on asbestos polluted and contaminated grounds. South Africa must come to terms with the fact that we have an asbestos industry. The challenge is to ensure that all parts of the asbestos chain, from mining to ultimately removal and waste disposal, are handled in a responsible manner to avoid pollution that could be harmful to both the environment and the people.
Looking at the policy approach, the precautionary principle is a key part of South Africa 's environmental management policy. This means that our approach to development and good environmental governance is that where any risks exist, we need to focus our energies on preventive action to counteract any possible harm that could result from such development action.
However, the overall government policy on asbestos is still in its infancy. It is against this policy background that I must announce my profound appreciation of the efforts undertaken by government departments to deal with identified sources of asbestos problem. The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) has started to deal with the mine dumps, but the issue of secondary pollution into nearby villages still remains unresolved. It is of course unsatisfactory that the mining companies that made huge profits have simply disappeared and did not contribute to this effort.
Since 1996, the National Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism took the initiative to investigate the impacts of asbestos within South Africa. The effects of asbestos are felt throughout the country, in every province, either through having mines or mine dumps in their provinces or through the use of asbestos products by consumers in general. Ex-workers and other sufferers of asbestos related diseases contracted due to environmental exposure are also not confined to one particular region but extend beyond our borders.
It is apparent that many government departments have responsibility for asbestos related matters, for example Minerals and Energy, Labour, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Health, Trade and Industry, Transport, Justice and Constitutional Affairs etc. Suffice it to say that the management of asbestos related matters has occurred in a fragmented manner.
There was therefore a need for government to take an integrated, co-ordinated response, as this will address the risk and dangers posed by the asbestos pollution problem. Furthermore, the immediate risk of serious danger to the public or potentially serious detriment to the environment posed by asbestos dumps was noted. As a first step towards achieving the integrated approach to asbestos management, a National Asbestos Summit was held in 1998.
There was a need to:
* Establish a national parliamentary inquiry on compensation and other remedial systems to make necessary changes
* Establish research towards phasing out of chrysotile (white asbestos) and replacing it with alternatives
* Ensure an enabling integrated legislative framework, including a ban on non-chrysotile asbestos
* Government to sue foreign companies responsible for human suffering, environmental degradation and repayment to government of millions of rands spent on rehabilitation of dumps and other remediation projects
* Establish a Multi-disciplinary Asbestos Advisory Group (MAAG) with mandate to conduct legislative audit in order to address the problem of fragmentation and to identify an inter-governmental co-ordinating structure as well as to advise on a co-ordination mechanism.
The recommendations of the summit were approved and ratified by Parliament and Cabinet through the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism. In taking the process forward, DEAT prepared a cabinet memorandum (Cab memo 20 of 2000) requesting approval and endorsement on the said responsibilities.
Cabinet approved the recommendations in this memorandum and further requested DEAT to co-ordinate the implementation of these responsibilities and submit progress report regularly to the Cabinet.
Government through the coordination role of DEAT has delivered on the following:
* Occupational health and safety regulations on asbestos
* Established a single compensation office
* Process to conduct a research on the feasibility of phasing out use of asbestos in South Africa
* Asbestos is no longer mined in South Africa and the last mine was closed in February 2001
* The rehabilitation of the mine is progressing well with DME taking the lead and DEAT contributing R500 000 for this process and participating in the steering committee
* Code of best practise for maintenance, demolition and disposal of asbestos containing material
* Asbestos is no longer used in road construction.
Furthermore there has been a new development around asbestos with the signing of an out of court settlement between asbestosis sufferers and the Cape PLC. This agreement has been signed but to date there is no progress in paying out victims, and of late reports indicate that Cape PLC is reneging on its contractual agreement.
I wish you well in your deliberations today and hope that we will recommit ourselves to the spirit of the 1998 summit.
Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 28 January 2003
Source: Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Title: Mabudafhasi: Public hearings on asbestos
ADDRESS BY THE HON REJOICE MABUDAFHASI, MP, DEPUTY MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND TOURISM OF SOUTH AFRICA, AT THE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON ASBESTOS, 28 January 2003
Ministers
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee
Chairperson of the Select Committee
Representatives from government departments
NGOs, affected communities
Business representatives
I am honoured to be part of this event to reflect on progress made since the Asbestos Summit that was held in 1998. These public hearings will also attempt to present a full picture of the asbestos problem in South Africa, the extent of the health, welfare and environmental pollution problems that exist due to asbestos products in the country. The meeting will also try and address some of the socio-economic issues that have resulted due to deadly asbestos related diseases.
We have therefore come to this meeting to seek and share information so that we can understand and act on the basis of knowledge. This means that we must fully grasp the responsibilities presented upon us by this deadly mineral (asbestos fibres).
Asbestos has been mined in this country for many years. By 1910 five asbestos mines were operating in South Africa. By the 1950s, in other parts of the world such as Britain, companies have become aware that exposure to asbestos is harmful to human health and causes disease. In South Africa this realisation was not embraced so workers continued to remain ignorant of the true dangers of asbestos.
In South Africa the problem is more acute in the Limpompo Province and Northern Cape where reports indicate that children are forever playing on asbestos polluted and contaminated grounds. South Africa must come to terms with the fact that we have an asbestos industry. The challenge is to ensure that all parts of the asbestos chain, from mining to ultimately removal and waste disposal, are handled in a responsible manner to avoid pollution that could be harmful to both the environment and the people.
Looking at the policy approach, the precautionary principle is a key part of South Africa 's environmental management policy. This means that our approach to development and good environmental governance is that where any risks exist, we need to focus our energies on preventive action to counteract any possible harm that could result from such development action.
However, the overall government policy on asbestos is still in its infancy. It is against this policy background that I must announce my profound appreciation of the efforts undertaken by government departments to deal with identified sources of asbestos problem. The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) has started to deal with the mine dumps, but the issue of secondary pollution into nearby villages still remains unresolved. It is of course unsatisfactory that the mining companies that made huge profits have simply disappeared and did not contribute to this effort.
Since 1996, the National Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism took the initiative to investigate the impacts of asbestos within South Africa. The effects of asbestos are felt throughout the country, in every province, either through having mines or mine dumps in their provinces or through the use of asbestos products by consumers in general. Ex-workers and other sufferers of asbestos related diseases contracted due to environmental exposure are also not confined to one particular region but extend beyond our borders.
It is apparent that many government departments have responsibility for asbestos related matters, for example Minerals and Energy, Labour, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Health, Trade and Industry, Transport, Justice and Constitutional Affairs etc. Suffice it to say that the management of asbestos related matters has occurred in a fragmented manner.
There was therefore a need for government to take an integrated, co-ordinated response, as this will address the risk and dangers posed by the asbestos pollution problem. Furthermore, the immediate risk of serious danger to the public or potentially serious detriment to the environment posed by asbestos dumps was noted. As a first step towards achieving the integrated approach to asbestos management, a National Asbestos Summit was held in 1998.
There was a need to:
* Establish a national parliamentary inquiry on compensation and other remedial systems to make necessary changes
* Establish research towards phasing out of chrysotile (white asbestos) and replacing it with alternatives
* Ensure an enabling integrated legislative framework, including a ban on non-chrysotile asbestos
* Government to sue foreign companies responsible for human suffering, environmental degradation and repayment to government of millions of rands spent on rehabilitation of dumps and other remediation projects
* Establish a Multi-disciplinary Asbestos Advisory Group (MAAG) with mandate to conduct legislative audit in order to address the problem of fragmentation and to identify an inter-governmental co-ordinating structure as well as to advise on a co-ordination mechanism.
The recommendations of the summit were approved and ratified by Parliament and Cabinet through the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs and Tourism. In taking the process forward, DEAT prepared a cabinet memorandum (Cab memo 20 of 2000) requesting approval and endorsement on the said responsibilities.
Cabinet approved the recommendations in this memorandum and further requested DEAT to co-ordinate the implementation of these responsibilities and submit progress report regularly to the Cabinet.
Government through the coordination role of DEAT has delivered on the following:
* Occupational health and safety regulations on asbestos
* Established a single compensation office
* Process to conduct a research on the feasibility of phasing out use of asbestos in South Africa
* Asbestos is no longer mined in South Africa and the last mine was closed in February 2001
* The rehabilitation of the mine is progressing well with DME taking the lead and DEAT contributing R500 000 for this process and participating in the steering committee
* Code of best practise for maintenance, demolition and disposal of asbestos containing material
* Asbestos is no longer used in road construction.
Furthermore there has been a new development around asbestos with the signing of an out of court settlement between asbestosis sufferers and the Cape PLC. This agreement has been signed but to date there is no progress in paying out victims, and of late reports indicate that Cape PLC is reneging on its contractual agreement.
I wish you well in your deliberations today and hope that we will recommit ourselves to the spirit of the 1998 summit.
Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, 28 January 2003
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