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BL Premium reports that Bishop Jo Seoka, chair of the Justice for Miners Organisation, says payment of compensation to 500,000 miners who became sick with tuberculosis (TB) and/or silicosis because of their jobs, must be expedited.
Last Monday, the Tshiamiso Trust paid a “first major batch” of payments to 102 claimants. This followed payment to seven others during a pilot exercise in December 2020. But, the 109 paid claims, totalling some R9m, represent only a fraction of the approximately 41,000 claims filed to date. Seoka said: “As much as we see this as a step in the right direction, it is but a drop in the ocean. We say this knowing that half a loaf is better than nothing.” He was referring to a 2019 settlement, endorsed by the High Court, relating to compensation through the Tshiamiso Trust of mineworkers who had contracted chronic respiratory illnesses due to their work at six gold mining companies. “To report a settlement of R9,074,523 in the two years since the Trust deed became effective on July 26 2019 is hammering a nail on the coffin of the majority of still uncompensated claimants and their families,” Seoka said. Justice for Miners, which works with affected miners and the families of deceased affected mineworkers, is pressing the trust to make a slew of changes. According to the organisation, there are “serious problems” at sites where applicants can lodge claims in terms of how they treat claimants, handle cases, run medical examinations and source work records. Seoka insisted that medical processes, including x-rays and autopsies, must improve. He flagged that certain documents were only available in English and called for improved communication with claimants. Seoka was also adamant that the trust “should err on the side of paying claimants rather than not paying”,
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Erin Bates at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page