WATCH - TOO LITTLE TOO LATE: R464m may not help many dying miners
The landmark payment of R464-million by mining giant Anglo American may be too little too late for many former Eastern Cape miners suffering from silicosis.
Anglo American South Africa and its subsidiary, AngloGold Ashanti, announced last weekend that they would pay compensation to 4365 ex-miners suffering from the deadly lung-related illness.
Half of the miners who will benefit from the settlement come from the Eastern Cape while the rest are from the Free State and Lesotho.
However, the almost half-a-billion rand settlement is a drop in the ocean as thousands more from this province, who also suffer from silicosis, were not part of the lawsuit.
And ex-miners like Buyisile Nogaga, 80, who left Hartbeesfontein mine in 1996, do not know whether they will benefit from the payout because many have fallen victim to fraudsters who solicited money while posing as representatives of mining companies.
“I am suffering from TB, many of us in this village are suffering from that. Our hope is that we will get something out of this payment,” he said.
He lives in Willowvale’s Lubomvana village.
This week the Saturday Dispatch spent time at the village where every third house has, or has had, someone suffering from silicosis.
One of those sufferers is 77-year-old ex-miner Steven Bambela who worked for more than three decades at Buffelsfontein gold mine.
He is a bitter old man who said if the mining company had looked after them after they retired, they would still be in good health.
“We are dying, something that could have been prevented if these companies took care of us while we were still working for them.
“Many have died, many are on their sick beds,” said Bambela – who speaks with difficulty.
He suffers from asthma and was recently turned away from a clinic as they did not have an asthma pump for him in stock. He said he was just waiting for his death.
“I knew then that’s it, we returned home to die,” he said.
Like Nogaga, Bambela also does not know if he will be among the 4365 beneficiaries.
“I’ve met many people who said they were representing mines and they will claim for us. My only hope is that my family get something before I die. I am very sick,” he said – with every sentence punctuated by a cough.
According to Zanele Mbuyisa of Mbuyisa Neale Attorneys, the law firm that helped the ex-miners, thousands in the Eastern Cape have been left out because of scams by fraudsters.
“The (problem) we encountered when we visited the Eastern Cape to register the ex-miners was those who were said to have been registered with other people. Many could not register with us and unfortunately only those in our system will be compensated,” he said.
lLast week Anglo American SA and Anglo Gold Ashanti announced an agreement to compensate silicosis claims brought against the companies.
The lawyers sued Anglo American South Africa and the former subsidiary of Anglo Gold for dust-related lung illnesses, including silicosis and silico-tuberculosis contracted while working on the companies’ mines.
In their statement, Anglo American said the settlement had been reached without admission of liability by AngloGold Ashanti and Anglo American South Africa.
The company said money would be placed in an independent trust administered by trustees who would determine medical and other eligibility and compensation to claimants with the funds available.
AngloGold Ashanti chief executive Srinivasana Venkat said the settlement was not related to a pending class action certification application that is currently before the courts.