Human rights lawyers have filed applications for certification of a class action against the Anglo American Group and other mining companies such as Thungela, which owns coal mining assets previously owned by Anglo American.
Anglo American completed the demerger of its thermal coal assets in SA to Thungela in 2021.
Law firm Richard Spoor Inc lodged the application in the Johannesburg high court on October 18 on behalf of former coal miners who it was said contracted coal mine lung disease while working in the mines.
This is the second in a series of class actions launched by the law firm on behalf of mineworkers who worked in coal mines.
In August a similar application was filed against mining companies South32, BHP and Seriti Power.
Spoor told Business Day that some of these companies filed notice of intention to defend.
At the time, Richard Spoor Inc said it planned to file similar actions against Exxaro, Glencore, and Anglo Coal.
Proceedings against Glencore and Exxaro will be filed before year’s end, Spoor said.
He said the actions were launched to “bring recourse to current and former coal miners, as well as dependents of deceased workers who contracted coal mine dust lung disease in the form of pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after exposure to coal mine dust in mines”.
Facilitate resolution
“It’s a process, but what we’re hoping is to grab hold of those who benefited from this neglect of miners and their families’ lives and their health, and to hold them accountable in some measure,” said Spoor.
Ultimately, said Spoor, they were “hopeful” that the industry as a whole would move towards a settlement and “come to the party and try to facilitate a resolution for the tens of thousands of workers” that are suffering the consequences of having worked as coal miners.
“I think on balance the industry is alive to [the] importance of addressing this legacy,” he said.
Motley Rice, one of the largest US plaintiff litigation firms, is acting as a consultant in the case. About five years ago, the firms brokered a class action agreement for harmed workers in the case of Nkala and Others vs Harmony Gold Mining Company and Others.
In that case, gold miners and their relatives received compensation for developing silicosis due to work-related exposure to silica dust in gold mining operations.
The companies named in the application must now decide if they want to oppose the idea of a class action.
A company spokesperson for Anglo American said the company has been informed of the legal action on behalf of former coal miners.
“We have not yet been served with the application. Once we do, we will study its content and consider our position,” the company spokesperson said.
Thungela confirmed that it has received the application for certification of a class action and that it is “in the process of considering the class action, its potential consequences for the company and its next steps”.
The case has been initiated by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
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