Case would be SA’s biggest class action

HOW does one bring justice to a case involving hundreds of thousands of people ?

This was the question posed by Wim Trengove SC, representing mineworkers who contracted either silicosis, tuberculosis or both in what has the potential to be the biggest classaction case in South African history.

Three law firms have joined together to represent the employees working in mines that have unsafe ventilation practices which can expose workers to high levels of dust and cause both diseases.

Bangu Mzi Balakisi, a 61year-old man from the Eastern Cape, said through an interpreter that he had contracted silicosis and tuberculosis as a result of working for 25 years in several mines.

Because of these illnesses, he said, he has difficulty in breathing and little energy.

The certification hearing opened in the high court in Johannesburg yesterday. The first task for the legal team representing the mineworkers is to convince the court during this two-week hearing that this should be a class-action case.

“The question is, how does one bring justice to a case involving hundreds of thousands,” said Trengove, as he addressed the courtroom.

He argued that the only way for each person who had been harmed or died from these work-related illnesses was to have a class action that included them all. Otherwise, each person would have to go to court individually to prove his or her case.

John Stephens, a legal researcher for Section27, explained that most of the mineworkers who were still alive could not afford the costs of going to court alone.

“The second option isn’t an option at all,” he said.

Another of the mineworkers’ senior counsel, Geoff Budlender, asserted in court that the mine companies knew about the connection between dust and the diseases and still failed to properly protect their workers.

He said other countries, including Canada, the US and China, all used more advanced safety practices even though South Africa was a leader in gold mining. “While we led in extraction, we didn’t lead in safety,” he said.

The legal team is pushing for the action to include all mineworkers who have worked at least two years underground since 1965 and have at least one of the two illnesses.

Alan Fine, a representative for seven of the mines involved, said they were holding discussions with legal representatives for the mineworkers about starting a legacy fund. This, he said, was to increase the amount of compensation available to workers as a potential alternative to the class action case.

Three judges, Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo, Judge Bashier Vally and Judge Leonie Windell, presided over the packed courtroom of about 100 people, which included several of the mineworkers involved.

Demonstrators from Treatment Action Campaign, which filed an amici curiae (friend of the court) in the case, sang outside the courthouse to show solidarity with the mineworkers.

If the case is certified through this hearing, it will be the biggest class action in South African history.

The case will then proceed to trial to determine what, if anything, is owed to the mineworkers.