The Tshiamiso Trust, which was established to give effect to the settlement agreement between six mining companies and claimant attorneys in an historic silicosis and tuberculosis (TB) class action, says it has successfully paid out more than R320-million to 3 598 eligible claimants and their families.
This milestone has been achieved in just over a year since the launch of the trust’s claims management system.
“It has been a monumental undertaking to get to this point, but the traction that we’ve gained is proof that the system, partnerships and processes that we put in place are working.
"That said, we are continually upgrading our systems, increasing efficiencies and expanding our operational capabilities to build on this momentum and speed up the claims process further. This includes furthering our system automation and working with the mines to digitise service records dating as far back as 1965," comments Tshiamiso Trust CEO Daniel Kotton.
Over 81 766 mineworkers or families of mineworkers have lodged a claim with the trust, to date, and about 30 to 40 claimants are paid every day.
"Unfortunately, for every claim paid, many more are rejected due to various provisions stipulated in the Trust Deed," the trust points out.
It explains that a claim may be found to be ineligible because the mineworker did not carry out risk work at one of the 82 qualifying gold mines during the time periods stipulated in the Trust Deed (March 12, 1965, to December 10, 2019); the medical records do not show evidence of either of the two compensable diseases – TB or silicosis; a lung function test could not be performed by the claimant; or the claimant was part of a previous settlement agreement and, therefore, cannot also claim through the Tshiamiso Trust.