A parliamentary committee has offered to forge an alliance with the Tshiamiso Trust Fund to spread awareness and disseminate information to enable eligible ex-mineworkers who contracted tuberculosis (TB) and silicosis while working at six big mines in South Africa, or their beneficiaries, to receive compensation.
The social cluster committee made this proposal during a meeting with the organisation on Monday this week, as a strategy to address the reported low turn-out of claim lodgements countrywide.
The committee said it was concerned about the low number of Basotho ex-mineworkers seeking compensation from the Fund after contracting TB and silicosis in the bellies of the mines between 1965 and 2019.
Tshiamiso revealed before the committee that out of 138 000 claimants who have lodged their claims in the South African Development Community (SADC) region, only 52 000 were Basotho, representing 38 percent of all the Trust’s lodging claimants.
The organisation was established in 2020 to manage compensation following a class action settlement agreement between claimant attorneys and the six SA mining companies; African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Sibanye Stillwater and Gold Fields.
Machesetsa Mofomobe, a member of the committee, told the meeting that the low number of claims was worrisome, particularly given the prevalence of TB and silicosis among ex-miners in the country.
He urged Tshiamiso to work with parliament to reach more eligible former mine workers now back home in Lesotho.
Mofomobe also pointed out that the rugged terrain and limited communication infrastructure in the country makes it difficult for ex-miners in remote areas or their beneficiaries to receive critical information about their rights to claim.
Another issue that hinders Basotho claimants to reach out to lodgements offices with relevant documents was lack of transport, with some walking more than 70 km to get services.
Mofomobe indicated that partnering with members of parliament and College Chiefs could go a long way to help Tshiamiso reach out to more communities countrywide.
“Some communities do not even have access to radios. It is important to broaden your way of communication in order to reach all the targets.
“We urge you to use this Honourable House, as we are here as representatives of the public and from all the corners of this country. By teaming up with us, we can reach these vulnerable communities and ensure that in 2031, no one is left behind,” he said.
He also pointed out that many Basotho were suffering in silence and some of them were not even aware that they are eligible for compensations.
“Claimants should not walk more than 70 km (as per the Trust Deed) to seek services from your office but the Fund should take such services to them,” he lamented.
Speaking during the meeting, the Tshiamiso Trust Fund chief executive officer, Dr Munyadziwa Kwinda, said the organisation was also concerned that some claimants failed to show up at the lodgements offices or provide required documents.
He explained that the criteria for eligibility to claim include current and former mineworkers with permanent impairment owing to silicosis or work-related TB or their dependants, where the mineworkers have passed away.
“A mineworker must have carried out risky work at one of the qualifying gold South African mines between 12 March 1965 and 10 December 2019. If a person has silicosis but when their lungs are checked it is found that their breathing is not compromised, they do not qualify for compensation. That does not mean they don’t have a disease, but they do not have a qualifying disease under the deed.
“The gold mining sector in South Africa currently employs more than 1.3 million people. Of that, about half (630 000) have worked in mines that are party to this Trust, in the period that the Trust covers.
“TB was included as part of the settlement agreement, but with very strict conditions because it is a community acquired infection. Unlike silicosis which one will acquire after being exposed to silica dust at the mines, with TB, a patient doesn’t have to work in the mine in order to have the infection,” Dr Kwinda noted.
He added that currently, only 29 percent of claimants who have lodged claims regionally have been found to have a compensable disease. Of every 10 people who go through the medical panel, only three come out being medically eligible.
Dr Kwinda also said for living claimants, silicosis Class one, two and three claims, the Trust pays up to M78, 732, M168, 712, M281, 187 respectively.
For first degree TB, the trust pays up to M56, 237 and second degree M112, 475. Historical TB claimants, in the absence of a medical report, are paid at M11, 247.
“Up to plus or minus 18 000 that have been paid to the claimants, 7,918 are Basotho, representing 43 percent. The amount of money paid to Basotho is M7, 837, 256. Approximately M1.6 billion has been paid to claimants within the region.
“As the Trust we do recognise and acknowledge the value of partnership to ensure that we compensate as many eligible claimants as we can,” he emphasized.
He further showed that progress remains slow for a significant number of claims for deceased mineworkers, living mineworkers seeking compensation for TB and claims reliant on a prior Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases certificate.
