By Selloane Ntshonyane
- The Department of Employment and Labour paid out R1.28 million to 277 former mineworkers and their families during an outreach in Port St Johns.
- An estimated R18 million in unclaimed benefits remains in Port St Johns alone, with R10 billion still owed to ex-mineworkers nationally.
Some former mineworkers died before they ever saw the money owed to them. Now, their families are the ones being paid instead.
The Department of Employment and Labour paid out R1.28 million to 277 former mineworkers and their dependants during a week-long outreach in Port St Johns, in the OR Tambo District of the Eastern Cape.
“Some of the mineworkers on whose behalf claims had been lodged did not live to see the outreach. In those cases, the benefits now pass to their dependants,” the department said.
The outreach was run in partnership with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), the Compensation Fund, the Eastern Cape provincial government and the Port St Johns Municipality. It forms part of Project Thubalethu, a programme that traces unclaimed and unpaid benefits owed to former mineworkers.
Barry Kistnasamy, Commissioner for Occupational Diseases, said an estimated R18 million in benefits remains unclaimed by former mineworkers in Port St Johns alone. Nationally, about R10 billion is still owed to ex-mineworkers and their dependants.
Kistnasamy said bringing services directly to the communities where former mineworkers live is the most effective way to get them their money.
Acting Director-General Jacky Molisane said the outreach addresses a long legacy. South Africa’s mining industry recruited heavily from rural areas, particularly the Eastern Cape, for decades.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said the province is home to about 370,000 former mineworkers who spent years working underground, often in conditions that left them with occupational diseases and injuries.
Beyond the payouts, 319 former mineworkers were assisted with work-related injury claims. More than 400 work seekers were also registered for jobs and given employment counselling.
Pictured above: Officials process claims for former mineworkers and their families during the outreach programme in Port St Johns.
Image source: Unemployment Insurance Fund
