#justiceforminers
The Justice for Miners Campaign is an initiative of Breathe Films and the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW).
The Justice for Miners campaign is building a movement that will influence and lobby government institutions, mining houses, Tshiamiso Trust, TEBA and the Minerals Council to do the work required to ensure fast and just compensation is paid to gold miners and their dependents affected by TB and Silicosis. The Justice for Miners campaign will also lobby and advocate for the required legal and policy reform to the compensation framework.
The compensation system is broken, failing to process and deliver payments to miners, whose health and lives deteriorate further as justice is delayed. Currently, miners struggle to navigate two complex and onerous compensation systems:
Statutory compensation for sick miners falls under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (ODMWA). Claims are administered by the Medical Bureau of Occupational Disease (MBOD) and the Compensation Commissioner for Occupational Diseases (CCOD). These institutions are tasked respectively with receiving and processing applications for compensation; and diagnosing, certifying illness and paying out claimants. But these state institutions are deeply dysfunctional, and to date huge historical backlogs of up to 200 000+ ex-miners and their families claims are still waiting to be processed for payments through these agencies.
Sick miners qualify for further compensation from the Tshiamiso Trust. In 2019, miners settled a ground-breaking class action lawsuit against 32 mining companies, where R5 Billion was set aside by 6 of the settling companies to compensate sick miners. The Tshiamiso Trust must implement systems to receive claims and trace miners and their dependents who are eligible for compensation. If the R5 Billion is not paid out to miners within 12 years, the funds will remain with the mining companies. Only a handful of miners have received compensation from the Tshiamiso Trust since its establishment in 2019.
Visit the websiteJFM calls on governments, the mining industry, and the Tshiamiso Trust to deliver:
We’ve made inroads in various fields, from Grassroots Organising, Chapter Training and Capacity-Building and Media Campaigning. Engagements with Tshiamiso Trust and Government is also ongoing as well navigating Protest Actions amist the current Covid19 Pandemic.
SEE ALL Activities and AchievementsThe Justice for Miners Campaign is an initiative of Breathe Films and the Southern Africa Resource Watch (SARW).