Limpopo asbestos community gets health screening after resident’s death

Health-e News Limpopo asbestos community gets health screening after resident’s death Residents of Mafefe village in Limpopo are being screened for asbestos-related illnesses as government moves to address contamination from abandoned mines that closed more than 30 years ago.

The intervention follows the death of 48-year-old Mampuru Thobejane, whose father, Chief Setlamorago Thobejane, says he had been diagnosed with asbestosis.

Mampuru died on 18 April this year after developing lung problems in May 2025.

His father told Health-e News that the royal family is still reeling from his son’s death.

Thobejane says the family initially suspected tuberculosis.

His condition deteriorated and he was admitted to Mediclinic Nelspruit Hospital in February. ‘Severe pain and struggling to breathe’ Thobejane says his son lived in agony in his last days while struggling with the impact of asbestos-related illnesses.

“Doctors told us that his lungs were severely affected,” Thobejane says.

“He was in severe pain and struggling to breathe.” Mampuru’s wife was pregnant with twins at the time.

“He was always complaining that he might die without seeing his newborns,” his father says.

Mampuru died on 8 May — three weeks before the twins were born.

Asbestos remains in the community Residents say remnants of asbestos-containing material remain scattered around Mafefe.

Villagers told Health-e News that heavy rain exposes dangerous material in the soil.

Health-e News saw pieces of material residents identified as asbestos at several locations in the village.

Residents also claim material is washed into the Ngwaname River, which they use as a water source.