SA gold miners form lung disease working group
by Agency Staff,
2016-03-20 15:02:28.0
SOUTH African gold-mining companies, some of which are being sued for historical incidents of lung disease, formed a working group to pay compensation to affected workers and prevent new cases occurring.
The group, which includes AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo American SA and Sibanye Gold, plans to set up a so-called legacy fund to supplement compensation paid by the state, it said in an op-ed in Johannesburg-based City Press Sunday.
"While there rests a fiduciary obligation on company managements to vigorously defend the legal challenge they face, it is also within their remit to find a solution that could provide a mutually acceptable outcome for all parties concerned," they wrote.
Sufferers of silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling dust from mines, are planning a class-action lawsuit against mining companies, which they say provided unsafe working conditions. Anglo American Plc’s SA unit and AngloGold settled a separate case related to silicosis earlier this month for about R500m.
African Rainbow Minerals, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold Mining are also part of the working group.
Bloomberg
Anglo Platinum miners board an underground lift underground at Thembelani 1Shaft in Rustenburg in this May 2014 file photo Picture: SUNDAY TIMES
SOUTH African gold-mining companies, some of which are being sued for historical incidents of lung disease, formed a working group to pay compensation to affected workers and prevent new cases occurring.
The group, which includes AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo American SA and Sibanye Gold, plans to set up a so-called legacy fund to supplement compensation paid by the state, it said in an op-ed in Johannesburg-based City Press Sunday.
"While there rests a fiduciary obligation on company managements to vigorously defend the legal challenge they face, it is also within their remit to find a solution that could provide a mutually acceptable outcome for all parties concerned," they wrote.
Sufferers of silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling dust from mines, are planning a class-action lawsuit against mining companies, which they say provided unsafe working conditions. Anglo American Plc’s SA unit and AngloGold settled a separate case related to silicosis earlier this month for about R500m.
African Rainbow Minerals, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold Mining are also part of the working group.
Bloomberg
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