South Africa Gold Mines Face 500,000-Strong Suit on Diseases
- Class action enables access to justice for poor workers: judge
- Judgment opens way for as many as 500,000 people to join suit
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A South African court has allowed thousands of former mineworkers to proceed with a class action seeking damages from mining companies for lung diseases they contracted while working at their operations.
“Class action is the only realistic option through which most mineworkers can assert” their constitutional rights, Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo said at the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg Friday. Otherwise, “impoverished, indigent workers won’t be able to access justice,” he said.