South African gold miners agree to landmark silicosis, TB settlement – by Simone Liedtke (MiningWeekly.com – May 3, 2018)

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Abrahams Kiewitz and Richard Spoor Attorneys, on behalf of thousands of mineworkers, on Thursday reached a class action settlement with the Occupational Lung Disease (OLD) Working Group, which represents various South African gold mining companies.

The settlement, which is the first of its kind in South Africa, will see compensation paid to eligible mineworkers suffering from silicosis and/or tuberculosis (TB).

The settlement agreement is a result of three years of extensive negotiations between the representative attorneys and the OLD Working Group, which represents African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony and Sibanye-Stillwater.

Pan African Resources, which only recently joined the litigation process, is still considering whether it should sign the agreement. This settlement will provide much-needed compensation to all eligible workers suffering from silicosis or TB who worked in these companies’ mines from March 12, 1965 to date.

The parties to the agreement believe that a compromise settlement is far preferable for all concerned than an inevitably lengthy and expensive litigation process would be, allowing for claimants to receive compensation and relief for their conditions more quickly.

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