Press Statement dated 1 May 2018
As we celebrate International Workers Day, we share the pain and anxieties of thousands of sick miners in South Africa.
We are working with Richard Spoors Inc. Attorneys to demand compensation from coal mines on behalf of former mineworkers who contracted deadly lung diseases in the coal mines.
We appeal to coal mining companies to handle the compensation claims with high levels of ethical responsibility as corporate citizens in South Africa. This should include refraining from delaying tactics that could result in unnecessary protraction of the litigation.
As a country, we have not yet found an effective way to deal with health impacts and sad legacy of apartheid-era mining.
State compensation system - which is governed by the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act – has not been sufficient and effective enough in dealing with such a legacy.
We appeal to the Chamber of Mines and other stakeholders to take a pro-active stance and consider the establishment of industry-wide compensation schemes for various sectors (the coal sector, gold sector and platinum sector), along the lines of the Q(h)ubeka Trust.
We also appeal to the Department of Mineral Resources and the treasury to strengthen the mechanism for enforcing health standards in the mines by allocating more resources to the Mine Health and Safety Inspectorate of the Department of Mineral Resources. In the Constitutional Democracy, we should not create another generation of sick miners similar to the one linked to apartheid-era mining.
Issued by Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC) Justice and Peace Commission and Richard Spoors Attorneys