The Minerals Council South Africa has welcomed the judgment handed down in the South Gauteng High Court approving the settlement of the silicosis and tuberculous class action suit.
The agreement between the claimants who contracted silicosis and tuberculosis and the Occupational Lung Disease Working Group, representing African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American SA, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony and Sibanye-Stillwater, was reached last year but was subject to court approval.
“The Minerals Council has been an integral part of the broader process, especially in ensuring that the current compensation systems that fall under the Medical Bureau of Occupational Disease receive additional financial and in-kind support,” Baxter said. In terms of the agreement a trust will be set up to benefit 10 classes of claimants. Affected miners and their families will receive between R70,000 and R500,000 depending on which class they fall under.