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Asbestos claimants get R41m
21/09/2005 17:42 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The Asbestos Relief Trust, set up to compensate people who have become ill through exposure to asbestos dust and fibres, has paid out over R41m in 467 claims in the past two years.
Trust chairperson John Doidge said since the first claim was received in March 2004, the trust had worked closely with accredited claims handlers and set up offices in Johannesburg, Kuruman and Mpumalanga, to ensure claims were processed speedily.
He said another 1379 claims had been approved and compensation for those would be paid out within the next two months.
Doidge said: "It is anticipated that the trust will have cleared the claims pending payment within six weeks. At that stage the trust will have paid approximately R90m to around 1350 claimants."
The average payment per claim is R68 000.
The trust was established by Gencor after extensive litigation was brought against the company.
It provides compensation to ex-miners, or people living in the mining area, who suffered from an asbestos related disease, as well as the families of people who have died due to asbestos exposure.
In order to qualify for compensation, the claimant must have been employed by one of the qualifying operations during certain qualifying times when the mines were owned by Gencor, Gefco or Msauli.
Trust manager, Tina da Cruz, said it also provided facilities for people to go for medical examinations to check if they were suffering from asbestos poisoning.
"These medical examinations are at the trust's expense. At the moment we are going out into the communities, trying to locate claimants and then send them for examinations," said Da Cruz.
She said they were also trying to locate claimants in Lesotho and Swaziland.
"There is an indication that a number of potential claimants originally came from Lesotho and in an effort to locate other asbestos sufferers there, we recently met with the Lesotho health and labour ministries to discuss the possibility of setting up a claims office there, " she said.
She added that they were also speaking to the Swaziland Council to do the same.
The trust is expected to continue operating for the next 25 years.
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