The recent endorsement of a $357 million silicosis fund by a South African High Court will see over 38 000 emaSwati getting a share of the money.
These include ex-miners who contracted silicosis and tuberculosis while working in the SA mines from 1965 and their beneficiaries, according to Vama Jele, a representative of one of the local ex-miners’ associations.
Silicosis is a lung fibrosis caused by the inhalation of dust containing silica while tuberculosis is a bacterial infection of the lung most of the time.
The high court ruling, which was delivered two weeks ago, came at a time when local ex-miners association were registering surviving ex-miners and sending them to government medical doctors for examination and diagnosis of the disease.
“The registration process started in 2012 but we still have quite a number of ex-miners who have not been reached yet,” Jele said.
The six mining companies that are paying out the collective $357.15 million towards the Occupational Lung Disease (OLD) are; AngloGold Ashanti, African Rainbow Minerals, Gold Fields, Anglo American SA and Harmony and Sibanye Stillwater.
BM/as/APA