‘Can They Just Pay Me Before I Die?’

Despite winning a R5 billion settlement in 2018, miners who contracted TB and silicosis at work and the family members of those who died are still waiting for that payment.

23 April 2021: Bangumzi Balakisi, 67, from Pikoli village in Peddie worked as a gold miner in Randfontein between 1974 and 1999. He now suffers from tuberculosis and silicosis, which he contracted at work.

In May 2018, five mining groups agreed to pay R5 billion to settle a class-action suit involving thousands of mineworkers who contracted tuberculosis (TB) and silicosis at work. The high court in Johannesburg approved this settlement in 2019. But two years later, the trust set up to administer the compensation process still hasn’t paid them. 

According to the Justice For Miners campaign, fewer than 10 claimants have been paid by the Tshiamiso Trust so far. There remains a backlog of more than 100 000 unprocessed claims from sick miners. The trust can only settle these claims once the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases (MBOD) has processed them in the statutory compensation system.

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Read the full article on the New Frame website.