Last week, the public health scandal surrounding silicosis-afflicted black former gold miners was shifted from the Eastern Cape to AngloGold Ashanti’s doorstep.
At the same time, the company’s public statements about “treating each other with dignity and respect” and “putting people first” were put to the test.
Twenty-seven former miners who had been diagnosed with the dust-related lung disease travelled 15 hours in minibuses from remote areas of the Eastern Cape to Carletonville, to be medically evaluated at AngloGold’s West Wits Hospital.
After their gruelling journey, the miners, whose average age is 62, were accommodated in unheated, cell-like hostels. They were allocated beds with no sheets or pillows and only two small blankets. The temperature that night dropped to 2°C.
We discovered this after they had spent two nights there and immediately arranged decent accommodation. In the ensuing days, one of the men, aged 74, had to be taken to hospital, where he remains. Three others have been admitted to hospital since. Two, one of whom is in isolation, have tuberculosis (TB).
The 27 are part of a group of 31 lead claimants who, as part of a claim involving about 1200 former miners, are suing their former employer, AngloGold, for damages.
Four co-claimants could not make the journey – one was too sick to travel and three have died since the case began in August 2012.
Black gold miners were employed in the dustiest jobs, without adequate protection and with scant regard for the long-term effects on their health. Published studies indicate alarmingly high rates of about 25% of silicosis in long-term miners.
Silicosis sufferers also have a greatly increased risk of contracting TB, which is the leading cause of death in South Africa and is endemic in the Eastern Cape.
The predicament of the group of 31 former mine workers is a microcosm of that faced by thousands of black miners, on whose backs the gold industry built its wealth.
It is only because of the medical examinations done for the legal case that the death rate and the serious illness and incapacitation suffered by these men has been brought to the fore.
It is reasonable to assume the serious ill-health identified this week among the group of 27 is replicated thousands of times over across the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
Ordinarily, the scandalous failure of the industry to address the plight of former miners remains hidden. The age of the population of former miners creates a financial incentive for the industry to delay litigation and payment of compensation.
Ten percent of the AngloGold lead claimant group have died. Delays in compensating the former miners, whose labour led to the multibillion-rand profits of the industry, serve not only to deny essential funds to the miners but also their widows and families.
While the claims of the 31-member lead group are expected to be resolved in a hearing starting in April, many other miners are still waiting.
The public relations pronouncements of companies such as Anglo-Gold and Anglo American need to be viewed in the context of their treatment of their former employees and their families.
That treatment is not “offset” by laudable contributions, for example, to areas of research that are not their responsibility.
The wife of the 74-year-old former miner who has been in hospital for the past week was distraught when she learnt he was there alone. We arranged for her to fly from Mthatha to be by his side.
AngloGold rejected a request to pay for the woman’s accommodation so she could stay near her husband. So much for dignity and respect and putting people first.
Zanele Mbuyisa is a partner at Mbuyisa Neale. Richard Meeran is a partner at Leigh Day. Mbuyisa Neale, assisted by Leigh Day, is acting in the case against AngloGold and a case against Anglo American involving about 4500 former miners
Ailing former gold miners are still getting shafted
At the same time, the company’s public statements about “treating each other with dignity and respect” and “putting people first” were put to the test.
Twenty-seven former miners who had been diagnosed with the dust-related lung disease travelled 15 hours in minibuses from remote areas of the Eastern Cape to Carletonville, to be medically evaluated at AngloGold’s West Wits Hospital.
After their gruelling journey, the miners, whose average age is 62, were accommodated in unheated, cell-like hostels. They were allocated beds with no sheets or pillows and only two small blankets. The temperature that night dropped to 2°C.
We discovered this after they had spent two nights there and immediately arranged decent accommodation. In the ensuing days, one of the men, aged 74, had to be taken to hospital, where he remains. Three others have been admitted to hospital since. Two, one of whom is in isolation, have tuberculosis (TB).
The 27 are part of a group of 31 lead claimants who, as part of a claim involving about 1200 former miners, are suing their former employer, AngloGold, for damages.
Four co-claimants could not make the journey – one was too sick to travel and three have died since the case began in August 2012.
Black gold miners were employed in the dustiest jobs, without adequate protection and with scant regard for the long-term effects on their health. Published studies indicate alarmingly high rates of about 25% of silicosis in long-term miners.
Silicosis sufferers also have a greatly increased risk of contracting TB, which is the leading cause of death in South Africa and is endemic in the Eastern Cape.
The predicament of the group of 31 former mine workers is a microcosm of that faced by thousands of black miners, on whose backs the gold industry built its wealth.
It is only because of the medical examinations done for the legal case that the death rate and the serious illness and incapacitation suffered by these men has been brought to the fore.
It is reasonable to assume the serious ill-health identified this week among the group of 27 is replicated thousands of times over across the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.
Ordinarily, the scandalous failure of the industry to address the plight of former miners remains hidden. The age of the population of former miners creates a financial incentive for the industry to delay litigation and payment of compensation.
Ten percent of the AngloGold lead claimant group have died. Delays in compensating the former miners, whose labour led to the multibillion-rand profits of the industry, serve not only to deny essential funds to the miners but also their widows and families.
While the claims of the 31-member lead group are expected to be resolved in a hearing starting in April, many other miners are still waiting.
The public relations pronouncements of companies such as Anglo-Gold and Anglo American need to be viewed in the context of their treatment of their former employees and their families.
That treatment is not “offset” by laudable contributions, for example, to areas of research that are not their responsibility.
The wife of the 74-year-old former miner who has been in hospital for the past week was distraught when she learnt he was there alone. We arranged for her to fly from Mthatha to be by his side.
AngloGold rejected a request to pay for the woman’s accommodation so she could stay near her husband. So much for dignity and respect and putting people first.
Zanele Mbuyisa is a partner at Mbuyisa Neale. Richard Meeran is a partner at Leigh Day. Mbuyisa Neale, assisted by Leigh Day, is acting in the case against AngloGold and a case against Anglo American involving about 4500 former miners
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