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Article

3 Sep 2015

Author:
Alide Dasnois & Thom Pierce, GroundUp

So. Africa: Silicosis-afflicted mine workers dying at an alarming rate, says lawyers seeking leave to sue mining companies in class action

'The long battle to get the mines to cough up', 3 Sep 2015: Miners with silicosis and tuberculosis are dying at an “alarming” rate, warn their lawyers…[who are] asking the Gauteng High Court for permission to proceed with a class action to sue 32 gold mining companies…on behalf of all miners who have silicosis and tuberculosis as a result of their exposure to silica dust since 1965, and of the families of all miners who have died of silicosis and tuberculosis…The matter…could affect…196,000 gold miners in South Africa and 84,000 from neighbouring countries…The mineworkers say the mines are to blame because they failed over the years to take steps to protect mineworkers against excessive levels of dust and the risks of silicosis and tuberculosis…[T]he lawyers for the mineworkers argue that as a group the mines knew very well what had to be done to protect workers and failed to do it…[refers to Anglo American and Harmony Gold] 

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