Success in silicosis case raises workers’ hopes of more actions
Lawyer set to take on Sasol over illnesses among coal miners
IN THE CROSS-HAIRS: A pupil walks through Embalenhle township near Secunda with Sasol installations in the background FLUSH from winning a key round in litigation against the gold-mining industry on behalf of victims of silicosis earlier this year, lawyer Richard Spoor is set to launch a similar case next year, also at the High Court in Johannesburg.
The case involves 22 former coal miners who say they contracted lung diseases after working at petrochemicals giant Sasol.
“We are very confident. This is a winnable case,” Spoor said.
“Sasol runs better coal mines in terms of health and safety [than other coal-mining houses]. That is why we are targeting it. The others could be even worse,” he said.
“We have the 22 people with good cases, no controversies. They have all worked on different collieries owned by Sasol.”
The two types of disease the former employees have are coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They are similar to silicosis.
The 22 workers were employed underground at various collieries, including Bosjesspruit, Brandspruit, Middelbult, Syferfontein, Twistdraai and Sigma, in Mpumalanga — all owned by Sasol. Two of the men have since died, one of them from liver disease after he began drinking heavily.
Spoor said the case was easier to put together than the one against the gold-mining houses.
“Most of the labour in the coalmining industry is local. Most of the guys are from Mpumalanga and the rest of the country. So there was no need to go beyond South Africa’s borders to gather evidence,” he said.
Spoor argues in court papers that one of the principal environmental hazards his clients may have been exposed to was coal and other mineral dust generated and raised into the air in the course of coal mining.
He argues that coal dust is a noxious substance which, if inhaled in significant quantities, causes lung disease.
Approached for comment, a Sasol spokeswoman said the company had an obligation to respond to summonses against it. “Sasol is also within its rights to raise valid defences, as any other defendant in a civil matter,” she said.
In court papers, Sasol said some of the mineworkers had waited more than three years to decide to sue the company after finding out they were ill, and could not now legitimately claim anything.
Sasol denied that the former mineworkers had either pneumoconiosis or obstructive pulmonary disease, although it said some might have silicosis or asthma. None had been certified by the Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases, it said.
Sasol had made sure the miners knew how to use the protective equipment given to them, the company said in court papers, and pneumoconiosis did not make a person unemployable.
Sasol had no legal duty to compensate the workers because it was a commercial endeavour that was important to South Africa and provided many jobs.
Sasol said that if it was at fault, then so were the plaintiffs.
It said it was impossible to mine coal without creating dust, although it had tried to keep the dust at safer levels and to train mineworkers to use protective measures underground.
The case, if successful, could have implications for other coalmining companies.
Spoor said that as a result of the pending litigation, some coal-mining houses had begun restructuring their operations to avoid liabilities in the future.
He cited as examples Total Coal South Africa, which has divested its assets in South Africa, and the new strategy by Anglo American Coal to get out of coal.
But a coal-mining analyst said Spoor was wrong about this.
“The big companies might sell their assets, but not to run away from liabilities,” the analyst said.
They would want to get out of coal mainly because political factors made it impossible to do business with Eskom.
Anglo American Coal spokesman Moeketsie Mofokeng said the company’s attention was focused primarily on businesses in which it held leading positions — De Beers, platinum group metals and copper — but recognised that it also had high-quality assets across iron ore, coal and other commodities.
“There is a process in place to reduce our stake in the Eskomtied coal mines in which we will seek a full or staged exit over time,” he said.
“We continue to actively manage our thermal coal assets in South Africa to further improve their operating and financial performance.”
In May this year, the High Court in Johannesburg granted an application by Spoor that will allow thousands of mineworkers to join a class action against about 30 mining companies. Comment on this: write to letters@businesstimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za
Sasol runs better mines in terms of health and safety. That is why we are targeting it.