– The DA is concerned that renewed asbestos-related health concerns in Mafefe point to a wider unresolved asbestos legacy across Limpopo, despite government having formally acknowledged the issue two decades ago.
– Rehabilitating former asbestos mines does not necessarily mean that surrounding environment and communities are asbestos-free or safe.
– The DA will seek a full provincial account of what has been done, what remains outstanding and why, and the current environmental and health status of affected communities.
The Democratic Alliance in Limpopo is deeply concerned about renewed health and environmental risks from asbestos contamination in Mafefe. The situation raises serious questions about other asbestos-affected communities across Limpopo and how much progress government has made in addressing a crisis it has known about for more than two decades.
The renewed focus on Mafefe follows the asbestos-related death of a member of the local royal family, which prompted the health-screening programme.
We will also request a complete provincial inventory of asbestos sites and affected communities, including their rehabilitation and contamination status, health-monitoring arrangements, outstanding work, budgets, and deadlines.
Government has known about this problem for more than two decades. Communities should not have to wait for another person to become ill or die before government determines whether they remain at risk.
The Department of Health has indicated that the death was used to mobilise the community for screening. This raises the question: why did it require a death in 2026 to prompt screening in a community where government has long known residents were exposed to asbestos?
As far back as 2000, government acknowledged that asbestos contamination in Mafefe extended beyond mine dumps to roads, houses, rivers, and watercourses, while estimating that the broader abandoned-mine rehabilitation programme would take between 10 and 15 years.
Yet contamination has persisted beyond the mine sites into the surrounding community and environment. The question is what has been resolved, what remains contaminated, why it remains unresolved, and what risk communities continue to face.
Mafefe is not the only area associated with Limpopo’s asbestos legacy. Mintek’s derelict and ownerless mine rehabilitation programme has identified or dealt with sites including Streatham, Penge, Ga-Mathabatha, Steelpoort, Mashupaloni, Kleingeluk, Lot 301 KS and Morgendal 215 KS.
Research shows these concerns are not confined to Mafefe. A May 2026 University of Limpopo study at Ga-Mathabatha confirmed asbestos deposits in surrounding villages and along riverbanks, while earlier research in the Penge area identified residual asbestos associated with former mining sites. This reinforces the concern that rehabilitating a mine does not necessarily mean surrounding communities are asbestos-safe.
Some of these rehabilitation projects have been reported as completed or practically completed. But mine rehabilitation is not the same as eliminating the asbestos legacy in surrounding communities.
While the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources carries responsibility for rehabilitating derelict and ownerless mines, the Limpopo Provincial Government has responsibilities for environmental and health consequences. LEDET is responsible for environmental management, pollution, waste, compliance, and enforcement, while the provincial Department of Health is responsible for screening, diagnosis, referral, treatment, and health surveillance.
The DA will seek answers on what has been done, what remains outstanding and why; the current environmental and health status of affected communities; post-rehabilitation monitoring; asbestos-related illness and deaths; funding allocated; and plans and deadlines to address outstanding risks.
The people of Mafefe – and every other affected Limpopo community – deserve to know what has been fixed, what has not, why not, and when government intends to finish the job.