south africa bans use of asbestos
28 March 2008

The final regulations to enforce the prohibition on the use, processing, or manufacturing of asbestos or asbestos-containing products in South Africa would be gazetted for implementation, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk announced.

The decision was welcomed and heralded as overdue by the Asbestos Relief Trust and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust, which were established to compensate those suffering from asbestos-related diseases. Also welcoming the ban was building product supplier Everite, which switched to asbestos-free products in 2002, but still had to compete with cheaper asbestos-cement imports from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Brazil.

The import or export of any asbestos or asbestos-containing product would also be prohibited, unless the importation was purely transitory. This was done in order to accommodate Zimbabwean requests as the country still produced asbestos and, as a land locked country, used South African ports to export the material.

The import of asbestos or asbestos-containing waste material from Southern African Development Community members, purely for the purpose of safe disposal locally, would be allowed, but subject to the submission of certain information yearly. This was in order to eliminate the unsafe disposal of the waste material in the region.

Any individuals or merchants which were still dealing in asbestos or asbestos-containing materials would be given a 120-day grace period, until July 27, 2008, to clear their stocks.

Manufacturers and merchants which sold a limited range of "identified products", for which no immediate alternatives were available (namely heat and arc-resistant electrical insulation boards, acetylene gas cylinders, gaskets, seals and insulation materials which contain asbestos), and wished to continue selling these products beyond the grace period would have to register with Deat within 120 days.

The regulations did not prohibit the continued use of asbestos-containing materials such as asbestos-cement roof sheets or ceilings that were already in place, but over time they would be replaced with asbestos-free materials. "We believe this will be a natural process," added Van Schalkwyk.

Asbestos mining in South Africa was stopped in 2001, and local manufacturers became dependent on the import of fibres from Zimbabwe. Since then, the industry in South Africa, which was a major supplier of asbestos globally, has been in decline.

The material was favoured by manufacturers because of its resistance to heat, electricity and chemical damage, its sound absorption, and its tensile strength, however, serious health issues, namely lung diseases caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres has made the use of the material highly unpopular and banned in over 50 countries.

Christy van der Merwe, www.engineeringnews.co.za