- Asbestos removal
- What is asbestos?
What is asbestos?
The mineral, the six types, and where it is in South African buildings today.
Asbestos is the name for six naturally occurring minerals that form long, thin fibres. The fibres are strong, don’t burn and were cheap, so for most of the twentieth century they were mixed into cement, boards and insulation. Breathed in, the same fibres cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. South Africa mined three of the six types, banned asbestos on 28 March 2008, and still has it in roofs, ceilings and pipes put up before then.
Asbestos to remove in your area? Send the address on WhatsApp, or outline the roof in the quote tool. Transport to the nearest licensed landfill is quoted after the site visit.
What are the types of asbestos?
The World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer name six: chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite (WHO). Chrysotile is a serpentine mineral with curly fibres; the other five are amphiboles, with straight, needle-like ones. The WHO treats all six as causes of cancer.
Three of them matter most in South Africa:
- Chrysotile (white asbestos): the type in most South African roof sheeting.
- Amosite (brown asbestos): mined at Penge in Sekhukhune, Limpopo, the mineral’s type locality (mindat).
- Crocidolite (blue asbestos): mined around Prieska and Koegas in the Northern Cape; the Koegas mine ran from 1893 to 1979 (Wikipedia).
Only a laboratory can tell which type a sample is. See asbestos testing and inspection.
Where is asbestos used in buildings?
Mostly in asbestos cement, where the fibre is mixed into cement and pressed into roof sheets, gutters, ceiling boards, pipes and water tanks. The asbestos is bound in, so it is low risk while intact. Softer materials such as pipe lagging and insulation are friable: they crumble and shed fibres easily, which is why removing them is Type 3 work.
Every material, where it turns up and what removing it counts as, is on asbestos-containing materials in South African buildings. The most common two have their own pages: is my roof asbestos? and asbestos ceiling boards.
Why is asbestos dangerous?
Because of the fibres. Disturbed asbestos releases fibres too small to see, and once breathed in they lodge in the lungs. The WHO says all types of asbestos cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, cancer of the larynx and ovary, and asbestosis, a scarring of the lungs, and that work exposure causes more than 200,000 deaths a year worldwide. The diseases show up decades after the exposure.
An intact, painted roof is low risk. The danger starts when asbestos is broken, cut, drilled, sanded or pressure-washed, which is why the law bans those things. When an asbestos roof turns dangerous.
Is asbestos banned in South Africa?
Yes. Since 28 March 2008, GN R341 has banned acquiring, processing, manufacturing, distributing, importing and exporting asbestos and asbestos-containing materials. What was already installed may stay: owning an asbestos roof is legal. The work on it is controlled by the Asbestos Abatement Regulations, 2020: removing 10 m² or more needs a contractor registered with the Department of Employment and Labour, and the job ends with a clearance certificate. The 2008 ban and the 2020 regulations in plain English.
How much asbestos did South Africa mine?
A lot. In 1977 South Africa was the world’s third-largest asbestos supplier (Wikipedia). The mines are closed, but a 2023 study counted 249 abandoned asbestos mines in the country, fewer than 40 of them rehabilitated (Preprints, 2023), and blue asbestos still lies exposed around Prieska and Koegas. Compensation for mining-related disease is paid by the Asbestos Relief Trust (see who can claim asbestos compensation); the figures are on asbestos in South Africa: facts and figures.
Questions people ask
What is asbestos made of?
Asbestos is a natural mineral, not a manufactured product: six silicate minerals that form long, thin fibres. Chrysotile is a serpentine mineral; amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite are amphiboles.
What is asbestos-containing material?
Any product with asbestos in it. In South African buildings put up before 2008 that usually means asbestos-cement roof sheets, gutters, pipes, ceiling boards and cladding, and sometimes floor tiles and pipe lagging.
What colour is asbestos?
The three common types are known by colour: chrysotile is white asbestos, amosite brown and crocidolite blue. You can’t identify asbestos by colour in a building, though; only a laboratory test can.
Is asbestos still used in South Africa?
No. It has been banned since 28 March 2008. Roofs, ceilings and pipes installed before then may stay, but removing, repairing or sealing them is regulated work.
Asbestos is six natural minerals that form fine, strong, fire-resistant fibres: chrysotile (white), amosite (brown), crocidolite (blue), tremolite, actinolite and anthophyllite. South Africa mined chrysotile, amosite at Penge in Limpopo and crocidolite around Prieska, and was the world’s third-largest supplier in 1977. Breathed in, all types cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. Asbestos has been banned since 28 March 2008, but asbestos-cement roofs, gutters, pipes and ceiling boards put up before then are still common, and removing 10 m² or more needs a registered contractor.
Get a compliant quote
Send the address on WhatsApp, or see your roof from above and get a quote on screen. The final price is confirmed on a site visit.