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Sunday World reports that thousands of former gold miners suffering from lung diseases such as silicosis and tuberculosis are still waiting for compensation years after applying to the Tshiamiso Trust.
The trust was set up in terms of a class action settlement for miners who worked in SA gold mines and were exposed to silica dust. The lawsuit incorporates former mineworkers from SA and the SADC region. The settlement covers those who worked between 1965 and 2019, but some families have lost hope. Catherine Meyburgh from Justice for Miners said the situation was getting worse, highlighting that many of the former miners have died while still awaiting compensation. She said one of the main challenges was the lack of proper medical records. For decades, she said, mining companies and the government failed to keep proper records, especially of black mineworkers, making it difficult for claimants to prove their illness. According to Meyburgh, the trust relied on the Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases for the silicosis certification and this disadvantaged a number of black miners. “Black miners were often tested in mine hospitals that didn’t keep proper files, and many of those hospitals have since closed. Their records are lost,” she explained, adding that this unfair system meant that insisting on certain medical records favoured white miners and left many black miners without the compensation they deserved.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Boitumelo Kgobotlo &Coceka Magubeni at Sunday World
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page