End of Struggle for Cape Asbestos Victims

End of struggle for Cape Asbestos Victims

Press Release - 13th March 2003 from Coombs, Pickering and Partners, Manchester, England

The 4-year fight for compensation by South African asbestos miners and residents has ended in settlement agreements being signed on 13 March 2003 with both English company Cape Plc and South African company Gencor Limited.

Cape Plc has agreed to pay £7.5 million compensation to the 7500 members of the Group action brought in England. Gencor has agreed to pay £3.2 million (at today's exchange rate) to those of the Group who were also exposed to asbestos from Gencor/Gefco operations in South Africa. A large number of the Cape victims worked or lived at or near Gencor/Gefco operations. Gefco took over most of Cape's operations when it pulled out of South Africa in 1979. Gencor owned Gefco for many years.

At the same time, Gencor has set up a Trust containing more than £30 million for the benefit of a much larger class of Gencor claimants, presently being assembled in South Africa, who are not part of the Cape Group action.

The terms of the Gencor Trust are based on the defunct proposed Cape Trust, which was to have been set up last year.

The compensation recovered on behalf of the Cape victims marks the end of what for many people has been a 4 year wait for compensation. Those negotiating on behalf of the victims have had to take into account the limited resources of the company, and the urgency of bringing the case to an end.

The funds from both Cape and Gencor will be paid into accounts held by their solicitors and attorneys, and will not be released to the victims until Gencor completes its unbundling, scheduled to be completed by the end of June 2003.

Solicitor Anthony Coombs of Manchester firm John Pickering & Partners, which represents one third of the Cape victims, commented: "This has been the most hard fought and difficult case my firm has ever been involved in. I am very pleased it has ended with meaningful payments to our clients."

Contact:
Anthony Coombs, John Pickering & Partners
Old Exchange Buildings
St. Ann's Passage
29/31 King Street
Manchester M2 6BE
Tel: (+44) 161 834 1251
Fax: (+44) 161 834 1505

e-mail ac@johnpickering.co.uk
Website: www.johnpickering.co.uk
www.mesotheliomaadvice.co.uk

Cape caves in on South African asbestos case

13 March 2003

Press release from: ACTSA (Action on South Africa, London, England)

British company Cape plc, has today agreed to a compensation settlement of £7.5 million for the 7,500 South Africans whose lives have been devastated by Cape’s asbestos operations.

For the past six years since 1997, Cape has used every legal and political tactic to deny justice for the claimants. Hopes were raised when an out-of-court settlement of £21 million was agreed in December 2001, but Cape failed to abide by it.

Today’s settlement, which will be paid in one instalment, has been made in conjunction with another settlement by Gencor Ltd, a South African company which took over many of Cape’s operations when it left the country in 1979. As part of the larger settlement, Gencor will pay an additional £3.21million to the Cape claimants who were also exposed to Gencor’s operations.

Communities in Northern Cape and Limpopo provinces are likely to greet this latest announcement with a mixture of anger and relief - anger that so many have died before seeing justice and relief that families may finally see some compensation for the legacy of death and disease left by asbestos mining during apartheid.

Cecil Skeffers of community group Concerned People Against Asbestos (CPAA) said, "while we can’t forget the effects Cape’s operations have had on thousands of people, we are delighted that Cape have finally made a settlement. We hope this will be an example to other multinational companies who practice in similar ways."

Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), which has led the public campaign in Britain to hold Cape to account hopes that this time the settlement will be more than in name only. Aditi Sharma, ACTSA’s Head of Campaigns, said, "Cape has fought a long and petty battle while hundreds of South African claimants have died. Since the last agreement of December 2001 alone, more than 200 claimants have died. Nothing can ever compensate for this loss. However we welcome the settlement as it now gives some families a chance to invest in their children’s future."

Ngoako Ramathlodi, Premier of Limpopo province, said today, "once the money is divided amongst the claimants, it will amount to next to nothing. But we shall settle in acknowledgement that Cape has paid up and acknowledged its wrong doings. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all those in the UK who have stood alongside our struggle and hope that this solidarity and support will continue in the many similar cases involving underprivileged people across the world."

The struggle for the 7,500 claimants may now be over, but justice remains elusive for any future claimants as the settlement does not allow for compensating beyond those already registered in the case. Another critical factor is that the settlement includes no provision for rehabilitating and clearing the asbestos dumps still surrounding many communities in South Africa.

Aditi Sharma said, "the Truth and Reconciliation Commission identified the mining industry as central to apartheid’s continuation. Multinational companies like Cape should be ashamed that they still deny their responsibility to make reparations to devastated communities. While this settlement is welcome, children in the Northern Cape and Limpopo have no alternative but to continue to play in asbestos dust in years to come."

Despite the known dangers, Cape mined and milled asbestos in South Africa’s Northern Cape and Limpopo provinces for over 90 years until 1979, leaving behind a legacy of disease and pollution. Cape’s South African workers were exposed to 30 times the British legal limit of asbestos dust without adequate protection.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Cape settlement agreed in 2001 was intended to be paid through a trust fund where £11 million would have been allocated within the first 6 months and a further £10 million over the next ten years. The amount that was envisaged would be paid to the existing 7,500 claimants, was approximately £9 million.

2. According to Cape, the settlement made in December 2001 was not met because of delays in financial restructuring necessary to raise the funds and a refusal of its banks, namely Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, to extend their credit to the company.

3. Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) campaigns for peace, democracy and development in Southern Africa and is the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Thousands of ACTSA supporters and a number of trade unions have lobbied Cape, its shareholders and its banks to urge Cape to settle.

Aditi Sharma
Head of Campaigns & Communications
Action for Southern Africa

28 Penton Street
London N1 9SA
tel: +44 20 7833 3133
fax: +44 20 7 837 3001
email: aditi.sharma@actsa.org
www.actsa.org

Any views presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ACTSA unless otherwise stated.