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Financial Gazette (Harare)
NEWS
By Stanley Kwenda
July 6, 2006
ZIMBABWE has renewed its fight against the proposed total asbestos ban by South Africa, the biggest importer of the chrysotile asbestos fibre or white asbestos, produced at Shabanie and Mashaba Mines.
The South African government has drawn up new asbestos regulations with the aim of banning the white asbestos mined in Zimbabwe claiming that it is harmful to humans.
South Africa's Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, declared at his country's 2004 asbestos summit that the mineral is detrimental to human health and had to be totally banned.
"For too many years communities across South Africa have lived with the dangers of asbestos and asbestos products -- we are now taking the final steps to ensure that this health hazard never again threatens our people and our communities," van Schalkwyk said.
After this summit all asbestos mines in South Africa were closed and an anti-asbestos bill was passed in parliament. According to health experts asbestos, if used without taking corrective measures, causes asbestosis, a cancerous disease.
But a documentary produced by Savanna Media Centre in partnership with various players in the Zimbabwean asbestos industry, seeks to dispel the fears that asbestos is dangerous to human life.
In the documentary entitled The Asbestos Story, the producers seek opinions on the subject from industry players in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Switzerland.
"The documentary analyses the devastating socio-economic consequences the bill would have for Zimbabwe, whose main importer of processed white asbestos products is South Africa. With the help of extensive research, the documentary attempts to unravel the reason behind this proposed bill," said Munyaradzi Hwengwere, executive producer of the documentary.
The documentary suggests that the proposed asbestos ban by South Africa has more to do with economic reasons than health concerns. After the closure of all asbestos mines in South Africa, one of that country's main anti-asbestos lobbyists Everite, a company which has switched its business to non-asbestos products argues that the continued importation of asbestos into South Africa will leave its business hard done by the cheap imports from Zimbabwe.
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There are three types of asbestos -- blue amosite, brown crocidolite and white chrysotile. The first two were widely used in Europe and mined in South Africa but have since been banned by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The white asbestos, which is mined in Zimbabwe, is still in use in countries such as Canada, Russia, Brazil and China. It is widely used in the manufacture of brake pads, water pipes and roofing sheets.
Several European Union countries have banned white asbestos for unsubstantiated health reasons and South Africa plans to follow suit.
But several experts on asbestos quoted in the documentary have declared that the white asbestos can be used without any health repercussions.
"We are operating within WHO and ILO regulations. They stipulate a limit of one fibre per mil of air and our operations have not exceeded 0.15 at any given moment so that way we believe we have exceeded the expectations of these two organisations," said a Turnall Zimbabwe asbestos expert.
An American scientist based in Switzerland, Dr David Bernstein said that only the banned blue and brown asbestos were harmful.
He said: "Asbestos is a commercial name and it does not actually refer to any type of fibre."
But Everite spokesperson, Brian Gibson, said that his company was pushing for a total asbestos ban so that their business interests could be protected.
"Everite feels strongly that the South African government has an obligation to Everite and to its workforce of 800 people, It has to effect the ban because as things stand Everite has gone to a sophisticated new product and is losing market share to imports of cheap asbestos cement from Zimbabwe," said Gibson.
If the South African government goes on to effect the ban, Zimbabwe's asbestos industry might collapse. The Southern African economic giant contributes over $ US100 million in exports and the industry also employs thousands of people. Zimbabwe has since put in place a National Chrysolite Asbestos Taskforce, whose mandate is to safeguard the interests of the local asbestos industry.
Source: Finacial Gazette, http://www.fingaz.co.zw
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