Richard Spoor Incorporated (RSI) said on Tuesday that its class action against coal companies had been bolstered by thousands of former and current mine workers joining its ranks, and it estimated that hundreds of thousands could eventually take part.

RSI spearheaded a historic R5-billion settlement on behalf of gold miners who contracted the incurable lung disease silicosis from inhaling silica dust. 

Last year, RSI filed papers against South32 Group, BHP Billiton, Seriti Power, Exxaro Group, the Anglo American Group and Glencore, alleging they had not taken the necessary precautions to protect workers from coal mine dust lung diseases (CMDLD) such as pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 

The companies have both former and current coal assets in South Africa. 

“In our historic R5-billion settlement in the silicosis case, an estimated 15,000 to 500,000 gold miners were part of the class action. If the coal class action follows a similar trajectory, the number of affected workers could potentially be in the hundreds of thousands again,” RSI director George Kahn said in a statement.

A class action in South Africa follows a two-stage process. The first is an application to have the class certified by a court. 

“At this point, all parties have filed notices of intention to oppose the certification application,” RSI said. 

Daily Maverick’s request for confirmation or comment on this from three of the four companies in this time zone was not answered before publication. Glencore said it would not comment. 

“The applicants’ responses to the respondents’ requests for documents were submitted on 26 February 2024, thereafter, the respondents are to serve their answering affidavits by 2 September 2024,” RSI said. 

So, the court process will be a long and winding road. The silicosis settlement was reached about six years after the initial papers were filed. 

Richard Spoor confirmed to Daily Maverick that the gold companies involved in the silicosis class action also initially filed notices of intention to oppose the certification application. 

Like other sectors of the mining industry, coal has made strides in recent years on the health and safety front. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Health and safety have improved in SA mining industry, but problems remain

But the RSI class action goes back to March 1965 so, among other things, it seeks compensation for negligence from the apartheid era when profits meant more than black lives. 

Meanwhile, some coal miners who joined the class action have died. 

“RSI is aware that the mortality rate of mineworkers suffering from CMDLD is incredibly high; about 5% of these sick mine workers pass away annually. Since the launch of RSI’s application in August 2023, South32 class representative applicants Thomas Cindi and Dayina Daniel Mafuya have already passed away,” RSI said. 

“Even before the launch, several prospective class representatives passed away, necessitating their widows to replace them as the new class representatives. 

“RSI anticipates that additional class representatives may pass away before the end of the litigation or as a settlement is reached.” 

This race against time raises the stakes in the saga at a time when the coal sector is increasingly being deprived of capital as banks stop providing finance for new projects because of the fossil fuel’s links to climate change. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Application for class action suit over lung disease filed against oxygen-deprived coal sector

Coal, unlike the gold industry, has an uncertain if not grim future. Coal miners with scorched lungs also have a grim future, and the clock is ticking. DM