The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has approved the historic R5-billion settlement agreement in the lengthy silicosis case.

Judge Leoni Windell found that “all the parties made an effort to ensure that the settlement agreement is reasonable, adequate and fair.”

“The terms of the settlement agreement demonstrate that they succeeded in their efforts,” the judgment read.

Parties made submissions in May asking the court to approve the settlement agreement and to issue instructions on the clauses it is not happy with. 

The legal process involving gold miners affected by lung diseases has stretched over several years and has been described as one of the “most complex multi-party class action settlements ever concluded” by parties.

The agreement, on behalf of thousands of mineworkers and their dependants, affects people who contracted silicosis or pulmonary tuberculosis during or after being employed as gold miners from March 1965.

The six mining companies paying out the collective R5-billion formed the Occupational Lung Disease (OLD) Working Group, which represented African Rainbow Minerals‚ Anglo American SA‚ AngloGold Ashanti‚ Gold Fields‚ Harmony and Sibanye Stillwater.

The mining companies admit that in the past they failed to take necessary precautions to protect their employees from the silica dust that rises from the gold mines.

Miners and the dependants of deceased miners were represented by various lawyers, including Richard Spoor and the Legal Resources Centre.

Four categories of claims

In a historic judgement in May, 2016 the case was certified as a class-action suit by the high court. In December 2018 the court declared four classes of claimants;

• people who contracted silicosis or were exposed to silica dust,
• the dependants of deceased miners who fell ill with silicosis,
• people suffering from tuberculosis, and
• the dependants of deceased miners who contracted tuberculosis.

The claimants will be paid out between R70 000 and R500 000, depending on which of the four categories they fall into.

The benefits will be paid through the Tshiamiso Trust, set up specifically for this purpose. It will receive R845-million to identify and locate eligible mineworkers and dependents, and will assess, process and pay their claims.