Decades after asbestos ban, former miners continue to suffer deadly health effects

Decades after South Africa bannedasbestos mining, former miners continue to die from the long-term effects of exposure to one of the country’s deadliest industries, according tonew researchfrom theUniversity of Cape Town(UCT) that sheds light on the enduring human cost of the asbestos economy. The study, published in theAmerican Journal of Industrial Medicine, examined mortality trends among 11 343 former asbestos miners and found that overall mortality was 4% higher than in the general population. Among women, however, mortality was 17% higher than expected, a finding the researchers said reflected the often-overlooked realities of women’s labour in the asbestos industry.

South Africa once dominated the global asbestos market, producing nearly all the world’s amosite asbestos and about 97% of crocidolite, among the most dangerous forms of the mineral. At its peak in the late 1970s, asbestos mining employed tens of thousands of workers across the Northern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Although asbestos mining and use were banned in 2008 because of its cancer-causing effects, the authors said the health consequences continued decades after mines closed, particularly in historically poor mining communities where access to healthcare remained limited.

Asbestos exposure is linked to serious diseases such as asbestosis, lung cancer, mesothelioma and other respiratory and some non-respiratory cancers, with international studies showing consistently higher death rates among exposed workers, including miners. In South Africa, however, the authors noted that the full scale of illness and mortality among former asbestos miners was not well quantified due to limited data. Asbestos-related diseases were widely underdiagnosed, under-treated and often uncompensated, leaving many former workers with long-term health and financial burdens.

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The study formed the basis of an MMed dissertation byDr Yumna Williams-Mohamed, a registrar in occupational medicine at UCT, supervised by professorRodney Ehrlich, DrJim teWater Naudeand associate professorShahieda Adams. Using records from theAsbestosandKgalagadi Relief Trustscollected between 2004 and 2023, the researchers analysed occupational histories, chest X-rays, spirometry tests and compensation records of former minersseeking medical evaluation for asbestos-related disease. The findings point not only to the persistence of asbestos-related illness but also to deepstructural failuresin surveillance, compensation and occupational healthcare in post-apartheid South Africa.

“Asbestos-related disease remainsunderdiagnosed and undertreated, with most individuals only identified when they present to health services with advanced disease,” said Williams-Mohamed. Under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act, former miners are entitled to periodic medical examinations.

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