The hearing of the lawsuit brought against the gold mining industry of South Africa by mineworkers affected by sili- cosis and tuberculosis (TB) started last week at the High Court in Gauteng in an effort to address working conditions in the sector.

In 2013, a consolidated class action lawsuit was brought against the industry by law firms Abrahams Kiewitz Incorporated, Richard Spoor Incorporated and the Legal Resources Centre (LRC).

Together, these firms represent over 1 000 mineworkers and dependants of deceased mineworkers from across Southern Africa, who suffer or suffered from silicosis and TB contracted while working for large gold mining companies, in what is said to be one of the biggest class action lawsuits.

The lawsuit seeks civil damages owing to breaches of statutory, constitutional and common law duties by the gold mining companies of South Africa with regard to their control of silica dust in the workplace. Potentially, damage caused to mineworkers by this dust is estimated at billions of rands.

According to a report by a Johannesburg weekly newspaper last week, thousands of former mineworkers from gold mines are claiming damages from about 32 mining companies for silicosis and TB they have contracted, allegedly as a result of negligence on the behalf of the mining companies. This happened because of prolonged exposure to excessive levels of silica dust.

The newspaper also reported that among the respondents are mining giants such as Harmony Gold, AngloGold and Gold Fields.

Earlier this year, an article titled ‘Silica Exposures in Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining in Tanzania and Implications for Tuberculosis Prevention’ reported that silica dust hazards are even greater in small-scale gold mines, as exposure to silica is more than two hundred times greater than in large mines. This is evidenced in the small-scale gold mining sector by the silicosis and TB rates among miners in Africa, which are about five to six times higher than in the general population.

Moreover, the LRC indicates that, if the court denies the class certification arguments that will be presented by the firms on behalf of the three firms mentioned, affected mineworkers will be forced to bring their damages claims on an individual rather than class wide basis.

LRC mentions that the lawsuit has enormous significance for the affected mineworkers, the gold mining industry in South Africa and class action jurisprudence as a whole in South Africa.

The arguments are expected to end before the end of this month, following which the court will announce its verdict on the arguments presented.