TOTT 14 February 2019

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February 14, 2019
Ndlambe halts work
after asbestos scare
FATHER AND SON: Looking forward to the Ann Jangle mini-concert at the
Bean and Olive on Saturday were Warren Lange, right, and his son Tristan
Picture: ROB KNOWLES
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29 Miles St, Port Alfred
PO Box 2871, Port Alfred, 6170
046 624 4356 / Fax: 046 624 2293
Mauneen Charter, mcharter@tisoblackstar.co.za
Anneli Hanstein, hansteina@tisoblackstar.co.za
Jon Houzet, houzetj@tisoblackstar.co.za
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ΛĂůŬŽŌŚĞŽŶĞĐ
ĂůŬŽĨŚĞŽŶ
ĂůŬŽĨŚĞŽŶŶĚůĂŵďĞ
JON HOUZET
Ndlambe Municipality has
called a halt on demolition
and renovation work at a
house in Mentone Road after a
neighbour complained about an
asbestos roof being removed
without the necessary safety
precautions.
The neighbour said he
preferred to remain anonymous
and approached TotT with his
concerns after reporting the
matter to the building
inspectorate. He said: “To the
best of my knowledge and
belief, no special precautions
were observed in connection
with the removal of the asbestos
and workers were observed to
be removing the roof sheeting
without even wearing face
masks. To my belief the workers
were thus exposed to an
unacceptable risk in working
with a dangerous and toxic
substance and local residents
were similarly exposed to the
risk of inhaling toxic dust.”
The municipal building
inspectorate discovered
demolition work had taken place
at 29 Mentone Road without a
demolition certificate, in
contravention of the National
Building Regulations and
Building Standards Act, and that
the asbestos roof had been
removed without following
regulation 155-OHS-Asbestos of
2001.
In a letter to owner Derek
Jacobs, infrastructural
No safety precautions with roof removal
ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD: The house at 29 Mentone Road, where an asbestos roof was
removed in contravention of the required safety precautions
Picture: JON HOUZET
development director
Noluthando Vithi wrote: “You are
hereby called upon to rectify the
above matter by ceasing all
work with immediate effect and
waiting for the plan to be
approved by council.
“Failing compliance with this
notice, legal proceedings may
be instituted against you
without further notice.”
In a responding e-mail,
Jacobs apologised “if I have put
you in a difficult position”.
“It definitely is not my
intention and I have stopped all
work on site. I have also
contacted an accredited
asbestos removal company in
Port Elizabeth [EC Demolishes]
and they will be sending their
team down to do a report and
removal of the asbestos roof
sheeting. Once they have done
this, they will issue me with a
certificate of compliance which I
will send you a copy of as well.”
Jacobs said he thought the
roof sheeting was “fibre cement”.
Municipal spokesperson Cecil
Mbolekwa said it was a pity the
neighbour had not alerted the
municipality when demolition
was still in progress.
Asbestos was used in
construction for many years
until its risk to human health
was acknowledged. The first
wave of asbestos disease
occurred in workers involved in
the mining and milling of crude
asbestos and in the manufacture
of asbestos products.
According to a departmental
of environmental affairs advisory
pamphlet, asbestos was
effectively banned in SA since
March 2008, “and it is unlikely
to find asbestos containing
materials in buildings
constructed after that year. The
golden rule is always: when in
doubt assume the material
contains asbestos”.