DA welcomes overdue triumph for mine workers 

13 May 2016

The DA welcomes the unprecedented approval of a class action case brought on behalf of potentially thousands of mineworkers suffering from silicosis and tuberculosis. The judgment will provide access to justice for the poorest South Africans, as it is simply too expensive for them to take mining companies to court individually. 

This judgment will, most importantly, provide justice for those who may have been exploited by historically unsafe mining practice, going some way to redress the injustices of the past in the mining sector. The DA trusts that this judgment will pave the way for just compensation for each worker whose job may have damaged their health. 

The underlying facts of the judgment underscore the importance of safety in South African mines. It is encouraging that South African mining safety has improved steadily over the years, though a single life lost is, of course, one too many. While the South African mining industry is under pressure to stay solvent under harsh economic and regulatory conditions, it should not do so at the cost of the lives, health and wellbeing of its workers. 

Issued by James Lorimer, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources, 13 May 2016