SA Catholic Church Assists Sick Miners Claiming Reparation from Australian Mining Giant South 32

by Admin · August 17, 2023

Coal Miners in South Africa. Photo: SACBC Commission for Justice and Peace

Fr Stan Muyebe OP: The Catholic Church in South Africa is helping sick mineworkers to launch a class action lawsuit and demand justice against global mining company South32.

Filed in the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division, by Richard Spoor Attorneys, this application for certification of a class action seeks recourse for sick miners and the families of workers who died due to coal mine dust lung disease (CMDLD) in the form of pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The application was initiated and facilitated by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference under its Justice and Peace Commission.

In 2014 and 2015, some of the coalmine workers in Mpumalanga and Limpopo approached the Church seeking assistance in their quest for justice against powerful mining companies. Imitating Christ in the Gospel who was always close to the struggles of the voiceless and the most vulnerable in the society, the Church decided to stand in solidarity with them and facilitated their access to legal assistance under Richard Spoors Attorneys.

Most of the former mineworkers are no longer members of trade unions and therefore lack the means and capacity to seek legal recourse from powerful companies which have huge resources at their disposal.

The Church is always concerned about the well-being of people with whom we work and live. It is thus incumbent on the Church to give assistance where it can so that the rights of the vulnerable are respected and so that they can access compensation that is legally due to them. Many companies are amenable to settling such cases, but in some instances court action is necessary,” said Cardinal-elect Stephen Brislin, archbishop of Cape Town.

Coalmine dust can cause miners to develop lung diseases including pneumoconiosis and COPD. Coalminers ’pneumoconiosis is a scarring or fibrosis of the lungs. COPD is a chronic lung disease that can be characterised by breathing difficulty and airflow limitations.

Both pneumoconiosis and COPD caused by coal dust are wholly preventable diseases. Despite knowing the risks to coal miners, members of the coal mining industry failed to provide their workers with adequate training, equipment, and a safe working environment, the litigation alleges.

In its social teaching, dating as far back as 1891 when Pope Leo XIII issued the seminal encyclical Rerum Novarum, subtitled “on Capital and Labour”, the Church has always been close to the suffering of unskilled and vulnerable workers in South Africa.

During apartheid, the Church played a critical role in the establishment of trade unions and defence of the dignity of work. In the post-apartheid period, the Church has been defending the right to compensation for the coal mine workers who sustained lung diseases as a result of systemic greed in the apartheid-era mining.

Applicant Maiwana Jan Nkosi, 65, who worked on a mine between 1981 and 2016, was diagnosed with Coal Mine Dust Lung Disease in 2020.

“I experience constant chest pain. At night I have to sleep in a particular position to try to relieve the chest pain. My coughing and wheezing sometimes wakes me up at night. When I walk quickly, it feels like my chest is blocked, and I must stop and rest for a while. When I walk up an incline, I experience chest pain and can only walk very slowly. I often run out of breath,” Nkosi explained.

“The impact this illness has had on myself, and my family has led to my inability to work after leaving the mine. My breathing is laboured and I am not able to do physical work. Maintaining a job in my condition would be near impossible,” he added.

Nkosi, whose three younger brothers all became mineworkers, supports his wife and two children.

Every breath can be a struggle in the life of a coal miner suffering from CMDLD. In exchange for backbreaking work that has generated enormous wealth for more than a century, miners far too often walk away with incurable lung diseases that require life-long treatments they cannot afford. Many have tragically lost their lives.

“We know that there is a long and difficult road ahead for miners who are already paying a heavy price for their labour. While compensation will not restore their health, we seek justice for those whose work has sent them home bearing the high cost of coal on their bodies,” said lawyer Richard Spoor.

The applicants seek to hold South32 responsible for actions from March 12, 1965, to the present. The proposed applicant classes include:

Current and former coal miners who contracted CMDLD in the form of pneumoconiosis (with or without COPD).
Current and former coal miners who contracted COPD after working in a South32 mine.
Dependents of coal miners who have died due to the illness.

The applicants argue that South32 breached the legal duties owed to the miners by failing to implement statutorily mandated procedures and protections. As a result, the miners developed incurable lung diseases.

This class action is a first step toward obtaining justice for all coal miners who have suffered, often without any form of compensation. If approved by the Court, the litigation will cover coalmine workers and dependents from many regions and rural communities given that miners often travel from afar to gain employment.

See class action application