JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Anglo American South Africa (AASA) confirmed on Friday that it had been served with a silicosis class action application by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), but added it did not believe it was in any way liable for the silicosis claims brought by former gold workers and would defend the actions.

The mining major told Mining Weekly Online it maintained that the gold mining companies that owned and operated the mines and employed the mine workers at the time were responsible for the health and safety of their employees and had taken reasonable steps to protect them.

This followed an announcement by the LRC, Garratt Mbuyisa Neale attorneys (GMN), London-based lawyers Leigh Day and Legal Aid South Africa, on Thursday, that they had filed a class action application against AASA in the Johannesburg High Court.

“We have denied liability in answer to similar claims filed in South Africa,” AASA said, adding that it would need time to study the application.

Meanwhile, the LRC said the timeframe in terms of the litigation process would initially be determined by the promptness of AASA’s response to the application.

The LRC constitutional litigation unit lawyer Sayi Nindi told Mining Weekly Online that the legal firms believed AASA’s liability would be proved through evidence from the plaintiffs and numerous other witnesses.

“Evidence has been obtained and reviewed by our team of lawyers and experts, and includes tens of thousands of documents discovered by AASA, as well as the opinions of the plaintiffs' medical team and mining experts,” she advised.

The filed class action application was opt-out and, therefore, provided a mechanism through which the interests of the wider class of silicosis sufferers – including those who were unaware that they had the disease – were protected, the legal firms said on Thursday.

“An opt-out class action automatically covers individuals who may not know they have the disease or are too sick to instruct lawyers; however, they will be given an opportunity at some stage in the future to opt out of the class action if they so wish,” explained Nindi.  

The class action application against AASA was a “natural progression” from the President Steyn litigation against AASA, claimed the legal team.

In 2004, 18 claims relating to miners employed at AASA’s President Steyn mine, in the Free State, were filed by the same legal team, alleging that AASA negligently controlled and advised its mines with regard to the prevention of dust exposure and silicosis.

“The expectation is that, if the President Steyn claimants succeed in the arbitration, AASA will accept general liability because of the nature of the legal and factual rulings that defeat would entail,” she said.

Ten of the President Steyn claims would be heard in a public arbitration hearing, which was set to start on September 2, in Johannesburg.