South African court justifies silicosis class action suit against mining companies

South Africa's South Gauteng High Court on Friday justified a silicosis class action suit against mining companies.

In a landmark ruling, the court gave the green light to miners suffering from silicosis to go ahead with their class action suit against 32 mining companies.

The court said a consensus has been reached that there are sufficient common issues to justify the class action.

There will be two classes for silicosis and for TB, Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo told the court.

"All the mining companies are accused of failing to protect health of the employees when they were legally bound to do so and as a result causing (the mine workers) to contract TB and silicosis," Mojapelo said.

Under the ruling, hundreds of thousands of gold miners and their families can together sue gold mining companies for damages after contracting silicosis and tuberculosis through work.

This will be the biggest class action ever certified in South Africa and could lead to a level of justice for miners whose health was allegedly put at risk for decades despite the industry's knowledge of how to reduce the likelihood of inhaling silica dust.

The class action includes 56 mineworkers who represent more than 25,000 people, but up to 200,000 workers or their families could stand to benefit if the class action is successful.

Silicosis is caused by inhaling silica dust, which workers can be exposed to during gold mining. Once one's lungs are scarred, the disease is incurable, often leading to chest pain, shortness of breath and increasing the likelihood of contracting tuberculosis.

Estimates show that one in four South African gold miners could suffer from silicosis. Endit