According to Clause 4 of the Trust Deed, the primary objective of the KRT is to:
make payment of Grants to Beneficiaries as fully, fairly and effectively as its means allow, subject to the qualifications and limitations of the Deed and the Schedule of Grant amounts which shall be furnished to the Trustees from time to time.
Clause 9.2.15 of the Trust Deed states that the Trustees may: “… use funds which have been raised, allocated and/or acquired for this specific purpose to undertake or commission special projects, investigations or programmes that will be of direct benefit or advantage to the communities affected by the asbestos mining and milling activities of the Asbestos Investment Group. The Trustees may in their discretion allocate interest accrued on the Trust Funds for such purpose, but not the capital amounts allocated for the payment of Grants or costs.”
Mindful of the primary objective of the KRT and that the payment of grants is a priority, the Trustees have agreed to use twenty percent of funds that are available under Clause 9.2.15 of the Trust Deed for social projects which broadly encompass the following:
The use of funds for these purposes and the choice of projects that receive support is at the sole discretion of the Trustees.
The KRT will not consider applications that do not have a direct link to the above mentioned objectives and funding principles or from “for-profit” businesses or enterprises.
Applications for funding must be submitted in the approved format to the executive management of the Trust for a preliminary assessment and submission to the Trustees for consideration.
Executive management of the Trust will monitor the performance of any projects supported by the Trust, including compliance with any grant conditions, and report back to the Trustees.
The talks will cover several occupational health issues, not solely focusing on asbestos concerns, as a broader range of topics will encourage more attendees. From previous experience, we expect approximately 20 health professionals from surrounding areas to attend.
Health professionals come away with greater understanding of, and appreciation for, current issues in occupational medicine as well as the work carried out by both Asbestos Relief Trust and Kgalagadi Relief Trust. CPD points will be awarded for attendance.
The purpose of the training is to equip PHC nurses with the knowledge and skill necessary to take an appropriate occupational history and refer suspected occupational disease cases to the next level of referral, i.e, the employer or the district hospital. Their role is to have a high index of suspicion for work-related problems and knowledge of referral systems. Through the early detection of disease these nurses can contribute to timeous identification of potential problems and provide referral for the proper management, prevention of further deterioration, compensation and/or rehabilitation of an employee/patient.
PHC nurses who complete this course will be better equipped to identify occupational ill health.
Kuruman Palliative Care Programme
The Kgalagadi Relief Trust and the Asbestos Relief Trust jointly funds a palliative care programme, administered by a nurse who provides palliative care services, support and counselling to individuals diagnosed with asbestos related cancers in the greater Kgalagadi district.
The Cancer Charity Workers (CCW) is a community- based group operating in the Kgalagadi district. It provides assistance and support to cancer sufferers including sustenance to individuals attending the oncology clinic at Kuruman Hospital, as well as transport to doctors’ appointments and assistance with purchasing medicine.
The programme is being jointly funded by the Kgalagadi Relief Trust and the Asbestos Relief Trust.
Research is currently being undertaken into the immediate future on the legacy of asbestos mining and its on-going impacts on people and the environment, and the unfinished business of rehabilitation and support for past victims of occupational and environmental exposure.
The aim of the study is to estimate mesothelioma incidence and mortality using the probalistic data linking method, based on mesothelioma data from the National Cancer Registry, StatsSA, PATHAUT (NIOH miners autopsy database), and the ART and KRT database.
The benefits of the study are:
The objective of this study is to develop a model to accurately predict the number of cases of mesothelioma among potential and successful claimants in the next 15 to 20 years. The study is important for the Trusts to estimate the number of future cases of asbestos-related cancer as accurately as possible in order to allocate remaining funds.
This research is being jointly funded by Kgalagadi Relief Trust and the Asbestos Relief Trust and is ongoing.
The objective of this project is to construct a virtual library of Southern African literature concerned with asbestos. The topics will include; asbestos related disease; mining, milling and production of asbestos; manufacture of asbestos products; the geology of asbestos; asbestos in the environment and the workplace; legislation, regulations and best practice recommendations. This library will be in the public domain and where copyright allows the complete article will be made available in an electronic format.
A bursary awarded for study towards a two year part-time Diploma in Occupational Health (DOH), or similar course at a South African university. Previous bursary recipients have completed the DOH at the University of Cape Town and the University of the Witwatersrand.
A bursary programme is jointly funded by the Asbestos Relief Trust and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust.
The White Bursary Recipients include:
Supedi maths programme aims to up-skill educators in teaching maths to learners through the use of manipulatives, which are especially designed tools/materials used by learners that aid the learning process. This was a social responsibility initiative aimed at improving the lives of people from former asbestos mining communities.
Kgalagadi Relief Trust and the Asbestos Relief Trust sponsored the programme in several former disadvantaged schools within former asbestos mining communities in the Northern Cape.
Programme participants include:
2008 Kgalagadi District
2009 Kgalagadi District
The Asbestos Interest Group (AIG) is a Kuruman-based community activist and advocacy group which was instrumental in the legal case that led to the creation of the AsbestosRelief Trust. The AIG continues to lobby around asbestos-related issues and is active within the greater Kuruman/Kgalagadi community.
The Asbestos Relief Trust and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust support the AIG’s education and advocacy initiatives through the provision of a monthly grant.
The establishment of the Asbestos Coordinating Committee of Kgalagadi (ACCK) was an initiative by the Asbestos Relief Trust to form an advocacy group consisting of stakeholders from communities, civil society and government, within the Kgalagadi district, to address the lingering asbestos legacy in the region.
The ACCK disbanded in 2011.
The Asbestos Relief Trust and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust supported the ACCK’s initiatives through the provision of a quarterly grant.
The National Asbestos Conference was held in October 2008 in Johannesburg. The primary objective of the conference was to address the continued legacy resulting from asbestos mining in South Africa and to place these issues on the national agenda.
The conference was jointly funded by the Asbestos Relief Trust and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust. The conference report is available on the following link.