Johannesburg - Non-profit organisation Section 27 hopes to form an integral part of a groundbreaking class action lawsuit against the country’s gold mining industry.
On Friday the NGO successfully filed an application at the South Gauteng High Court to intervene as amici curiae(friends of the court) in the gold mining silicosis lawsuit brought by Bongani Nkala and 55 others against Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited and 31 others on behalf of the Treatment Action Campaign and Sonke Gender Justice .
The 56 applicants represent tens of thousands of current and former gold mineworkers who worked in the gold mines for at least two years from 1956 to the present and contracted tuberculosis and silicosis.
Section 27 said the case presented the potential to vindicate the rights of and achieve justice for the mineworkers and their families in the form of compensation. It is was also an opportunity to achieve corporate accountability regarding the legal obligation on mining companies to prevent and treat lung disease in the mines.
“The application introduces novel legal arguments and new, compelling evidence related to the conduct of the gold mining industry, international law and the need for access to justice for gold mineworkers and their families,” it said.
A hearing on the application will be heard on April 13, 2015.
Saturday Star