Parties involved in the asbestos legal battle have broadly agreed on a UK20-million settlement. However, Northern Cape premier Manne Dipico and his Northern Province counterpart Ngoako Ramatlhodi said on Friday there had been no settlement. ”We have come back…hopeful that the end is very near,” Ramatlhodi told reporters. He said one of the main hitches that needed to be overcome so that an agreement could be signed was the amount of legal costs that should be paid. Ramatlhodi and Dipico were speaking after returning from the United Kingdom. Negotiations are currently underway there with UK-based asbestos company Cape Plc to pay compensation to about 7 300 South African claimants who were suffering from asbestos-related illnesses. The company mined hazardous blue asbestos in the Northern Province in South Africa in 1997. Almost 300 claimants had died uncompensated since the case started in 1997. – Sapa