Chronicle EditorPamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
SOUTH African mines have reached a conditional settlement to pay compensation of between R10 000 and R500 000 each to foreigners, including Zimbabweans who worked in the neighbouring country’s mines after 1965, subject to approval by that country’s High Court.
According to a notice of proposed class settlement, six mining companies African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American SA, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony, Sibanye-Stillwater and some of the affiliate mining entities have reached a conditional settlement to pay compensation to eligible former Wenela workers.
The dependants of those such as wives, children or life partners are also eligible for payments.
Wenela is an acronym for Witwatersrand Native Labour Association, comprising former mine workers drawn from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana and Mozambique.
The settlement will benefit gold mine workers who worked in South Africa any time after March 12, 1965, and were exposed to mine related diseases.
“The proposed settlement will settle claims against the participating gold mining companies arising from the class action that was initiated before the High Court for the harm and loss suffered by the dependants of mine workers who contracted silicosis or tuberculosis during their work on certain gold mines in South Africa.
“Eligible claimants will be entitled to receive a once off payment of between R10 000 and R250 000 depending on the nature and seriousness of the disease. In certain exceptional circumstances, this amount maybe increased to R500 000,” reads part of the notice.
The notice indicated that the proposed settlement is subject to certain conditions and must be approved by the High Court when it sits from May 29 to May 31 this year in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“If the settlement is approved and all its other conditions are met, a trust called the Tshiamiso Trust will be established and will exist for a minimum of 13 years.
“The participating gold mining companies are also required to pay the class lawyers asset amount for legal costs and pay for administration of the Tshiamiso Trust,” reads the notice.
The ex-Wenela mine workers and their dependents must submit a claim form to the Tshiamiso Trust with personal information, employment history and respective medical records to be eligible for compensation.
“An eligible claimant is a person who is a member of any of the classes (mine workers) and who meets the requirements of the Tshiamiso Trust to receive monetary compensation. The participating gold mining companies are also required to pay the class lawyers a set amount for legal costs and to pay for administration of the Tshiamiso Trust,” the notice adds.
More than 30 000 Zimbabweans migrated to South Africa in the 1960s to work in the mines and pensions of most of them are yet to be released by different South African mining companies.
Many stopped working without knowing that they had accrued benefits that the mines were supposed to pay them, with a significant number believed to have been infected with and succumbed to lung infections as a result of working in the mines.
– @pamelashumba1
derick.khumalo