TB/case settlement with gold mining firms pleases Ditshwanelo

Correspondent | Friday May 11, 2018 14:51

This historic settlement was announced and signed by the parties in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 3, 2018. It was reached as a response to various factors including the escalation of legal costs, the lengthy court processes, the increasing number of claimants who are dying from silicosis and the consequential need to fast-track the compensation of remaining claimants.

Settlement notwithstanding, the agreement needs to be endorsed by the Gauteng High Court before it can be enforced. Arising from the agreement will be the establishment of the Trust which will be charged with the duty of facilitating disbursements of compensation in line with the South African compensation laws.

This effectively means ex-miners who have been paid under the South African Government payment scheme, will be eligible to receive additional compensation under the class suit. This is a development which DITSHWANELO supports and endorses. The Silicosis Class action was a lawsuit brought on behalf of former and current mineworkers who worked in Apartheid era gold mining companies in South Africa, who due to over-exposure to silica dust contracted TB/Silicosis and other occupational lung diseases.

DITSHWANELO has been working with ex-mineworkers on the Silicosis Class suit since 2012 with Richard Spoor Attorneys, a South African law firm. DITSHWANELO was responsible for the country registration of claimants including collection of evidentiary documentation for the suit. It was as a result of this project that BoLAMA – Botswana Labour Migrants Association was formed. BoLAMA is an ex-miners’ association advocating for the rights and interests of former mineworkers and their beneficiaries.