[miningmx.com] – LEGISLATION that deals with the compensation of ill mineworkers is inadequate and urgently needs reform.
This was the view of Professor Rodney Ehrlich from the School of Public Health at the University of Cape Town.
Ehrlich briefed South Africa’s parliamentary oversight committee on mineral resources on June 24 about the prevalence of silicosis in former and current mineworkers and the instruments available to claim for compensation.
The system of compensation for occupational injury and disease for mining falls under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works Act (Odimwa), which is administered by the Department of Health.
The Act provides only for respiratory diseases, such as silicosis (as a result from silica inhalation in gold mines) and tuberculosis, but there has been a long standing consensus that the legislation needs to be reformed.
The compensation is paid from a fund, which receives a levy from employers who are required by law to pay contributions based on their wage bill.
Ehrlich argued that the Department of Health already has “other issues on its plate’, but it has now realised that the compensation needs to deal with “this baby monster that has grown up’.
A serious concern is that the solvency of the compensation fund under Odimwa, is uncertain, said Ehrlich, and an actuarial assessment of the fund is difficult as there was often under reporting of the prevalence of illnesses and the subsequent compensation – especially from smaller mines.
Earlier, AllAfrica reported that the Odimwa compensation fund had been declared bankrupt in 2004 already.
Attempts to significantly increase employer contributions by mines only partly succeeded, as the Chamber of Mines challenged an earlier recommendation by the fund’s auditors to raise employer contributions one-hundred-fold over 15 years. Subsequently the chamber was ordered to pay levy increases of ten-fold.
But even if mineworkers are successful in their claims for compensation the lump sum paid out in terms of Odimwa is measly. A lump sum payout is currently R3,000 which is lower than the average R4,000 mineworkers earn per month.
“It has also lagged behind inflation,’ says Ehrlich, “and in 2013 already it only amounted to seven months’ salary.’
Current and former miners who are still struggling to be properly compensated for illnesses in terms of Odimwa have lodged claims for civil damages, three of which will be argued in October this year in the Gauteng South High Court.
These litigations are costly, but they allow for much larger payouts if they’re successful, while a larger number of miners are compensated.
But the Department of Mineral Resources is pessimistic about the likelihood of success for mineworkers. “The outcomes so far haven’t been good,’ said deputy mines minister Godfrey Oliphant, who also attended this morning’s briefing.
“These mines don’t give in easily. They come to court with lengthy documents and it’s very frustrating.’
One of the solutions, Ehrlich said, would be for Odimwa to merge with the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA). “This will greatly increase the number of compensations, the amounts that are paid out and it will reintroduce pensions.’
Mining committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipho concluded that a new policy framework needed to be drawn up with regard to the compensation of ill mineworkers – current and former – after joint discussions with the departments of mineral resources, health and labour.
“We need an integrated strategy which may include new legislation if we conclude that the current system is not operationally friendly.’
