Lawyers for 7,500 South African miners with asbestosis have given the British company Cape two weeks to pay a �21m ($32.8m) compensation settlement or face new legal action.

If we take them to court we will wipe them out

Richard Meeran Miners' lawyer

The building materials company struck the deal last December but failed to pay the first instalment of �11m which was due at the end of June.

The miners will restart court proceedings if no money is paid by 14 September.

"If they do not comply we will take that as meaning the will to pay is not there," the miners' lawyer, Richard Meeran of Leigh Day & Co, told BBC News Online.

"We will withdraw from the settlement and see when we can get a hearing date," he said.

No one at Cape was available to comment.

Contradiction?

The South African miners took legal action against Cape for asbestos-related diseases they contracted in the 1970s.

Asbestosis

A fatal disease which can take decades to manifest itself in victims and slowly destroys the lungs.

The company shut down its UK operations in 1968 but continued to operate in South Africa until the mid-80s.

"Cape has been paying UK asbestos claims since the 1970s and has never fought a case on liability in the UK and always settled," said Mr Meeran, who has represent British miners against Cape.

He said there appeared to be some "contradiction" in Cape's reluctance to settle with its South African miners.

Blaming the banks

After the out-of-court settlement the company said it had to sell-off some units and seek money from its banks in order to pay.

"They were meant to have paid on 30 June, but we gave them an extension because the restructuring was taking longer than expected," Mr Meeran said

"Cape have said the banks have not agreed to lend them the money ... but the banks could implement the settlement tomorrow," he said.

Mr Meeran said he believed the company was committed to implementing the settlement.

Wider action

New court action could draw in Cape's former parent company, UK-based Charter as well as the South African holding company Gencor, warned Mr Meeran.

"It's not in Cape's interest (to return to court), if we take them to court we will wipe them out," he said.

Gencor faces separate claims from former miners at its Gefco and Msauli asbestos mines, which it sold in the late 1980s.

"The claimants I represent live where Gencor were operating, and Gencor purchased the Cape operations in 1981," Mr Meerah said.