‘Fears over silicosis miners as covid-19 strikes’ 13 July 2020

The outbreak of the COVID-19 has sparked fears that mineworkers who suffer from silicosis could be at risk of contracting the virus due to their compromised immune system and die before receiving their pay out settlements from the historic R5billion class action settlement. Tshiamiso Trust was founded in terms of the class action settlement agreement concluded between six mining companies, some of their affiliates, the claimant’s representatives, and the claimant’s attorneys. The Trust was registered by the Master’s office of the High Court in February 2020 with the intention to commence the claiming process which will see compensation paid out to affected mineworkers as soon as possible. Its mandate is to pay compensation to an estimated 500 000 ex-gold miners in Southern Africa. 

…Tshiamiso Trust chairperson May Hermanus said they are putting processes and systems in place to ensure that the compensation process moves as quickly as possible. She pointed out that the Trust is only a few months old and in order to function optimally, it had to pay meticulous attention to governance issues for it to deliver on its mandate.  “We recognise the vulnerability of the miners who worked in the conditions in the mines, particularly in the past, that we must move fast as we can and we must put whatever resources we can into making sure that they’re not again disadvantaged by the fact that we now have COVID 19,” said Hermanus.  Hermanus said the Trust has to date, put in place a board that comprises individuals who specialise in areas that include the organisation of benefits claiming process. The Trust has also brought together a team that will support its operations and leans heavily on the expertise of individuals who have extensive experience working in trusts.

…I do know that The Trust itself has taken a very long time to be established and I think for many people, part of the impatience is (that) they’ve been hearing about this since heaven knows when but it’s only got established formally in February this year,” said Hermanus. The Justice for Miners Campaign is an initiative by Breath Films (producers of the award-winning documentary, “Dying for Gold”) and Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW) who advocate for the payment for just compensation for miners who contracted silicosis and TB as a result of working on South African gold mines. The Campaign is a regional organisation with Chapters consisting of ex-miner organisations and civil society organisations in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and Botswana