Asbestos Mining Victims Gain Another Victory

Another Victory For Asbestos Mining Victims
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By Sizwe samaYende

07 Mar 2006 - Nelspruit - There is hope of compensation in sight for more asbestos miners who contracted diseases and other life-threatening ailments because of their jobs. Nelspruit-based lawyer Richard Spoor has brokered a deal with Swiss Eternit Group, a multinational company, to establish a trust that will pay the workers for the next 20 years.

The Kgalagadi Relief Trust will pay individuals who used to work at the group's asbestos mines at Kuruman and Danielskuil in the Northern Cape between 1952 and 1981. Spoor said the structure and organisation of the trust would be modeled on the existing Asbestos Relief Trust.

The Asbestos Relief Trust, which Spoor was instrumental in creating, was established in 2003 following an out-of-court settlement between asbestos sufferers and their former bosses, Msauli, Gencor and Gefco. The three companies agreed to set aside R460 million to compensate ex-workers from mines in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape.

This trust's formation followed a victory by about 7 000 asbestos victims who used to work for British multinational company, Cape Plc.

 

Cape Plc's employees set a precedent by forcing the company to pay about R97 million in 2001 to compensate sickly workers and relatives of workers who had died from asbestos-related diseases. "To avoid unnecessary duplication, the Asbestos Relief Trust will be entrusted with the management and administration of the new trust," Spoor said.

He declined to reveal how much Swiss Eternit Group set aside for the compensation of its ex-worker s but said that both parties were satisfied that "the grants payable to qualifying applicants are fair and equitable."

 

"The contributions are confidential but [we] are confident that they will be sufficient to enable the trust to fulfill its obligations to beneficiaries," said Spoor. Spoor added that the Kgalagadi Relief Trust would become active from the beginning of next month.

Meanwhile, the Asbestos Relief Trust was planning to set up claim offices in the neighbouring countries of Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho this year to facilitate the compensation of ex-workers from these countries. This trust has approved about R100.9 million to date, to be paid to qualifying ex-mineworkers. - BuaNews

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