Fund for miners with lung disease planned

The South African government is planning a R1.5 billion compensation fund for miners suffering from lung diseases affecting 500 000 people, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said. Companies including AngloGold Ashanti, the world’s third-biggest miner of the metal, are participating in the project that’s being rolled out by the Department of Health. Compensation will apply to sufferers of tuberculosis, silicosis, and other illnesses, Motsoaledi said. Workers from other countries are also eligible to apply, he said. “Our goal is to compensate current and ex-mineworkers who have submitted valid and compensable claims,” he said told reporters in Carletonville, a gold-mining town 86 km west of Johannesburg. “I’m here to pay back the money.” Lawyers representing sufferers of silicosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling dust from gold mining, say companies including AngloGold and Harmony Gold Mining are to blame for workers catching the disease because they operated without adequate ventilation for the past 60 years. South Africa is source of about a third of all gold yet produced globally. Other companies participating in Project Ku-Riha, which means compensation in Tsonga, are African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American, DRDGold, Gold Fields, Sibanye Gold and Village Main Reef, they said in a joint e-mailed statement. They have committed to a 5 million rand funding programme for the project. Motsoaledi didn’t immediately provide detail on where the remaining funds will come from. The National Union of Mineworkers, Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, Solidarity and UASA support the fund, the minister said. JOHANNESBURG BLOOMBERG