—move expected to help claimants in getting long overdue payments
Mathatisi Sebusi
THOUSANDS of eligible beneficiaries of ex-miners, who died after contracting tuberculosis (TB) and silicosis in South African mines but could not access compensation due to a technicality on how Lesotho records the death certificates of its citizens, will now finally get paid.
This follows the amendment of the Tshiamiso Trust Deed to accept medical records showing that a deceased ex-mineworker was being treated for and died from either disease even though this is not expressly stated on the death certificate.
Lesotho’s death certificates mostly indicate whether a person has died of “natural” or “unnatural” causes without specifying the actual medical cause of death.
This has presented a serious obstacle for the claimants as the requirement was that a death certificate should explicitly show the exact cause of death.
Since the inception of the Trust, many Basotho widows and other beneficiaries of deceased ex-mineworkers could therefore not lodge claims despite having medical records showing that the deceased was released from service in the South African mines due to TB and silicosis.
That has now been remedied by the amendment which will allow the death certificates, which don’t specify the exact causes of death, to be supplemented by the other medical records.
Tshiamiso Trust was established to effect a settlement agreement reached between six mining companies and claimant attorneys after a historic 2016 class lawsuit found them liable for the deaths of thousands of miners to TB and silicosis.
The companies are: African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Sibanye Stillwater, and Gold Fields.
Tshiamiso’s mandate is to pay compensation to the estimated 500,000 ex-gold miners across Southern Africa, including Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and Mozambique — countries which for years supplied cheap labour to South African gold mines.
The 2016 settlement, reached in the Johannesburg High Court, covers employees who contracted silicosis or TB while working on the cited mines for two years or more between 12 March 1965 and 10 December 2019.
All potential claimants should pursue compensation before the window period expires in the next four years. The Trust itself will cease to exist after 2030 and any unclaimed funds will be forfeited. By easing the requirements, Tshiamiso Trust has enabled more beneficiaries to access compensation.
In an interview with the Lesotho Times this week, Tshiamiso Trust Chief Executive Officer, Dr Munyadziwa Kwinda, said the Trust had broadened the scope for recognizing silicosis or TB as the primary cause of death even though this was not explicitly stated on death certificates.
Alternative documentation, such as other medical records prior to death, will now be considered as evidence of cause of death.
“An amendment was made to Schedule H concerning death certification. The inclusion of Clause 7 expands the conditions under which silicosis and cardio-respiratory tuberculosis may be certified as the primary cause of death.
“This amendment allows that, where an official death certificate of a deceased mineworker specifies ‘natural causes’ as the cause of death, a claimant may submit a Death Notification Form (part of the DHA1663 Form) or a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, certified by the attending medical practitioner, as a medical condition or disease that caused the death. This change will enable the Trust to proceed with finalizing claims on this revised basis. Each step taken is in adherence to the Trust’s established purpose,” he said.
He, however, said significant challenges persisted despite their continued efforts to assist claimants. A significant number of claims still lacked the necessary supporting documents for the Trust to finalise them.
Mr Kwinda said these unresolved issues continued to be a source of frustration and disappointment for many claimants and stakeholders, impacting the overall progress of the Trust’s work. It also remained a challenge to access claimants in remote areas.
“Much work remains to be done, and the Trust is now in a critical phase of its mandate. With four years remaining for potentially eligible claimants to lodge their claims, intensified efforts are required to reach individuals in underserved areas.
“The Trust’s administrative budget presents limitations for the extensive outreach necessary across its wide geographic footprint. This necessitates the development of strategic approaches, broader collaboration, and a sustained focus on reaching those within the Trust’s scope,” Mr Kwinda said.
“Despite our progress, several major hurdles remain. The most significant of these is the standstill on claims due to unresolved differences in the interpretation of the Trust Deed. Noteworthy, further challenges include claimant contacts. Many claimants remain unreachable, with the original contact information provided by them having changed, preventing claim updates and scheduling of BMEs (benefits medical examinations),” he said.
Ex-miners went through BMEs on leaving work and had certificates showing that they had contracted silicosis and TB while working in the mines. Some of them died when they came home from South Africa, while others are still alive and have the certificates, but Tshiamiso’s policy obliges them to retest before they can be compensated.
The amendment eases access to compensation for beneficiaries of deceased ex-miners, not those still alive.
For the deceased, beneficiaries could not be compensated because of discrepancies between what BMEs showed and what was written on death certificates.
For instance, BME results could show that an ex-miner had contracted silicosis and underwent treatment. They were then released for being unfit to work but after their death, the death certificate would only be indicating that they either died of “natural causes” or “unnatural causes”.
Mr Kwinda says there is a possibility some of the ex-miners died in South Africa, which means their death certificates were more specific about the cause of death so they would be among those already compensated.
However, this particular amendment, Mr Kwinda says, was tailored for thousands of ex-miners who died in Lesotho.
“Thousands of claims remain stalled due to the unavailability of essential documentation needed for certification. Included in this is the part of the now-accepted Death Notice that contains the necessary Medical Certificate of Cause of Death section, as this documentation is not commonly provided to the public,” he added.
He said to date, the Trust has received 53,282 claims from Lesotho, of which 22,481 have gone through the BME process, while 8,894 claims have been paid out, amounting to M808.5 million.
Those compensated are mostly living ex-miners who have lodged their claims directly or beneficiaries of ex-miners who died in South Africa.
The latest amendment has been welcomed by ex-miners’ associations and beneficiaries of deceased ex-miners who have been struggling to get compensation.
Nts’ebo Motsamai is one of the beneficiaries who has been struggling to access compensation because her father’s death certificate did not specifically state that he died of silicosis, but only indicates he succumbed to natural causes.
“My father, Ramabanta Ranko, worked at President Steyn Gold Mine in Welkom from 1973 to 2002. He was sent home after contracting TB and silicosis in the mines and died in 2013. Despite having medical certificates and a clear medical history, we could not access his compensation because of the inconsistency between the medical records and the death certificate.
“Now that Tshiamiso has amended its Trust Deed, I will try claiming again and hopefully I will get my father’s compensation,” Ms Motsamai said.
Lesotho Ex-Miners Association Coordinator, Rantšo Mantsi, told the Lesotho Times yesterday they were pleased with the amendment. He said the association was among those who had called for the amendment and was seeking more changes to the deed to facilitate compensation.
Mr Mantsi said the association wanted to, among other things, see an improvement of the working relationship between the Trust and beneficiaries — focusing on the compensation process, documentation requirements, and accessibility to resources.
He said beneficiaries in remote areas struggled to access services, as they had to travel long distances to the nearest service centre. The ex-miners were therefore requesting that seven additional claim lodgment stations be set up in remote areas.
The Trust required numerous other specific documents such as death proof of residence, and employment records.
However, Mr Mantsi said where workers had been released from work on medical grounds, with medical certificates proving that, no further documents should be asked for.
