Ditshwanelo search for more ex-miners after court victory
Innocent Selatlhwa | Friday May 20, 2016 15:16
This follows the recent judgement on the TB/Silicosis class certification application handed down by deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo at the Gauteng High Court on May 13, 2016.
Ditshwanelo, together with a South African law firm, has since June 2012, conducted the registration of former and current underground Batswana mineworkers employed in South African gold mines. This was done in order for them to form part of this particular case, through a class suit.
According to Ditshwanelo project coordinator Kitso Phiri, the purpose of the suit is to obtain compensation on behalf of former and current migrant mineworkers, who contracted silicosis and other occupational lung diseases. “It includes both those who are still alive and those who have died as a result of the diseases. The court ruled that the class action may also be brought on behalf of dependents of deceased former miners,” he said.
Phiri said they would like to start locating more Batswana eligible to benefit in addition to registered 2,300 ex-miners who have worked in South African gold mines for more than 10 years. The May 2016 ruling opens the way for these Botswana citizens to claim and hopefully obtain compensation for having contracted silicosis or TB in the workplace. Phiri said it was possible that the matter be settled out of court as some of the mines have started coming forward expressing interest to negotiate out of court.
Mojapelo made it clear that the mineworkers who had died of silicosis or TB can be included in impending class action compensation claims, with any damages being paid to their families.
“The common law in its present form endorses the financial laws and social harm that the estates of the deceased mineworkers and their families endure as a result of these mineworkers succumbing to the diseases of silicosis.”
Mojapelo added: “The mining companies are the only ones which benefits, the law violates a number of constitutional principles and to that extent it fails to promote the bill of rights.”