This date would give the local manufacturing industry enough time to find an adequate substitute for the deadly substance, NUM parliamentary co-ordinator Fred Gona said yesterday.
Speaking after a meeting of Parliament's environmental affairs portfolio committee, he said the industry was "playing down the health effects" of asbestos.
Earlier, the committee was briefed on asbestos and its usage by the Asbestos Association of South Africa (AASA).
The association, which represents eight local manufacturers and distributors, told committee members there were certain items that would be difficult if not impossible to make without asbestos fibre.
These included, among others, friction material used in heavy duty linings, insulation cloth for fire protection sheets and certain types of gaskets.
The association called for the "responsible and safe use" of such asbestos-containing products to be allowed, and not phased out.
Following a summit on asbestos in 1998, government has committed itself to the general phasing out of asbestos in South Africa, but has not totally banned its use in manufacturing.
The country's last asbestos mine closed in 2001, and more stringent occupational health and safety regulations have been imposed on the manufacturing sector.
The industry now imports most of its asbestos requirements, about 4 000 t of white chrysotile fibre a year, from Zimbabwe.
Speaking to Sapa after the briefing, AASA member Andre Goosen said the asbestos product export industry in South Africa was worth about R50-million to R100-million a year.
He said whereas certain industries could, and had, replaced asbestos with a substitute fibre, use of the mineral was "critical for very heavy-duty applications".
Goosen said as far as he was aware, not a single asbestos-related disease had occurred among employees of his association's members.
However, Gona said the danger of asbestos went beyond manufacturers' workers.
"What happens when products such as fire protection sheets decay? This will affect end-users".
There were also dangers associated with transporting the chrysotile into South Africa from Zimbabwe, which was done by rail.
"If you look into the trucks and containers, you will see loose fibres".
Exposure to asbestos dust can cause mesothelioma, a form of cancer, or asbestosis, which damages the victim's lungs.
Gona said NUM would ultimately like to see a total ban on use of asbestos.
He said the association's argument was the same one used by certain building industry manufacturers, which had once used asbestos fibre in roof sheets, but under pressure from government and regulations were now fast finding alternatives.
On the health threat to workers in the manufacturing sector, he said: "We don't buy this argument that there are no cases (of asbestos-related disease) over this period".
NUM had compromised on the asbestos issue at the 1998 summit by agreeing to a phasing out of its use.
"You don't kill an industry completely, but this phasing out is something that can't go on for ever.
"The year 2008, ten years after the summit, is enough time in which to find adequate substitutes," Gona said. – Sapa.
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