Mining Victims Get Another Victory
Article Added March 7th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story
African miners who contracted diseases and ailments from their job may have new hope. Compensation for their ailments may be in sight.
A deal has been brokered with Swiss Eternit Group and Nelspruit-based lawyer Richard Spoor. The multinational company will create a trust that will pay the affected workers for the next 20 years. Individuals that used to work at the Kuruman and Danielskuil mines in Northern Cape between 1952 and 1981 will benefit from the new Kgalagadi Relief Trust. The existing Asbestos Relief Fund was the model for the structure and organization of the new trust.
Spoor was instrumental in creating the Asbestos Relief Trust in 2003 following an out of court settlement with asbestos suffers and their former employers. The three companies, Msauli, Gencor and Gefco, set aside R460 million for compensation for workers of the Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Northern Cape mines. The trust was a victory for more than 7000 workers of one of the multinational companies involved. Though the amount of the settlement has not been made public, both parties were said to be satisfied with the grants payable to qualifying applicants. The trust will become active the beginning of April.
Article Added March 7th, 2006 - Print This Story - Bookmark This Story
- Jeffrey Simon, Founding Partner
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