The Sunday Mail
Lincoln Towindo
Representatives of Zimbabwean migrant workers who worked in South African gold mines during the 1960’s will tomorrow hand over a list of claimants to atTrust established to manage funds set aside to compensate the ex-miners.
Around 8 000 Zimbabwean migrant workers will receive payouts ranging between R10 000 and R500 000 for unclaimed benefits and medical compensation after a successful class action suit filed by South African lawyers against some of that country’s biggest mines.
Thousands of Zimbabweans migrated to South Africa during the mid-century gold rush to work in mines owned by African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony and Sibanye-Stillwater. However, as a result of poor ventilation in the mines many of them contracted respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and silicosis.
The workers were also not paid employment benefits accrued on the mines during their years of service.
Lawyers representing the ex-Wenela (Witwatersrand Native Labour Association) workers and the companies reached a historic R5 billion settlement agreement in 2016, before the South Gauteng High Court approved the settlement in July last year, paving way for the workers and their dependants to start receiving the money.
Tomorrow the Ex-Wenela Miners’ Association of Zimbabwe will submit a list of the first local claimants to the Tshiamiso Trust, which manages the multibillion fund. EWMAZ president Mr Lungelwe Mkwananzi told The Sunday Mail that the Tshiamiso Trust will then verify each claim before paying out the compensation.
“We met with our lawyers in Cape Town during the Alternative Mining Indaba and the way forward that came out of our discussions was that we are now dealing directly with the Tshiamiso Trust,” said Mr Mkwananzi.
“As you may know, the Tshiamiso Trust was established in terms of the settlement agreement made between the companies, the lawyers representing the workers and the government of South Africa through relevant ministries.
“It has a lifespan of 13 years, which started last year. Now we are at a point where starting on Monday we will be submitting names and personal details of our members to the trust in anticipation of payouts.”
He, however, cautioned that this did not mean that the payments will be made immediately because of the inherent bureaucracy involved in such a mammoth process.
“I do not want to raise the people’s expectations unnecessarily,” he said.
“The instruction we got in Cape Town is that we immediately start submitting names to the trust through applications we have been given . . .
“We have not settled on the number of applications or names we will be submitting because this is a continuous process, so I cannot tell you the number of names we will be submitting.
“The Tshiamiso Trust will then go through the names we have submitted and verify with the records they have whether the person qualifies for pay-out or not. If one qualifies then definitely they will work out the payment that is due.”
In terms of the settlement agreement, every ex-Wenela worker will receive unclaimed benefits, while those who undergo medical examinations will also get medical compensation if it is proven that they contracted TB or silicosis-related conditions.
The payment also includes an out-of-court settlement agreed between the mining companies and the litigants.
The amounts to be paid to eligible claimants will depend on the nature and severity of the disease and whether the recipient is an ex-worker or a dependant.
The ex-Wenela miners were drawn from Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
Mr Charles Abrahams of Abrahams Kiewtz Incorporated represented the Zimbabwean migrant workers, while those from other countries were handled by Richard Spoor Incorporated Attorneys and Legal Resources Centre.
