Gencor (GMF), the South African mining holding company, has set Monday, February 3 as the deadline for claimants to against the company for alleged asbestos mining-related illnesses to accept its settlement offer.
It has been speculated that Gencor has offered the claimants in excess of R450-million. Gencor has made its offer without an admission of liability.
“We are considering Gencor’s offer very seriously and will let them know our response today,” said Richard Spoor from legal firm Ntuli, Noble & Spoor, which is representing the asbestos claimants.
Litigants against Gencor have claimed over one-billion-rand from the mining house for asbestos mining related diseases.
Following discussions during December 2002 and January 2003 with lawyers involved in the effort to prevent the unbundling of Gencor’s stake in Impala Platinum or Implats (IMP), agreement in principle was reached on the quantum of a settlement but disagreement among the lawyers for the claimants prevented the finalisation of the settlement, Gencor said in a statement.
While all parties had already agreed the total amount due to potential claimants in December 2002, Gencor has now revised the total offer marginally to accommodate the disagreements among lawyers for the claimants, Gencor said.
The process to make the compensation agreed to available to the claimants can only commence once a settlement is final.
“The failure to accept the offer on Monday will result in the curtailment of negotiations. Gencor has already started investigating other alternatives to serve its shareholders in this matter,” Gencor said.
If the lawyers for the claimants cause a collapse of negotiations by failing to accept the accommodating offer on Monday, the Gencor board will focus on these alternatives, while awaiting the judgment of the high court.
A judgment in the unbundling case is expected by the end of February 2003. Should the offer be accepted on Monday the final terms of the settlement agreement will be finalised in the course of this week, Gencor said.
A settlement of the asbestos case will allow Gencor to unbundle its 46% stake in Implats and so increase Implats’ free float. The claimants in the Gencor case were allegedly exposed to asbestos from the operations owned by the Griqualand Exploration and Finance Corporation (Gefco).
Gencor held a controlling interest in Gefco from 1963 to 1989.
The principle diseases that result from asbestos mining are lung cancer, asbestosis, mesothelioma and pleura disease. – I-Net-Bridge