NSSA, Tshiamiso Trust unite for miner pay
Zimbabwe’s National Social Security Authority partnered with South Africa’s Tshiamiso Trust to compensate former mine workers affected by silicosis or tuberculosis contracted between March 1965 and December 2019. The agreement follows a settlement reached in the South African High Court involving six mining corporations: African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Sibanye-Stillwater, and Gold Fields.
Former miners from Zimbabwe and five neighboring nations who performed hazardous underground labor at South African gold operations can submit claims through medical assessments. Workers who have completed more than five years receive free examinations, while those with shorter tenures pay 1,900 rand, refundable upon qualification. Families of deceased workers must provide evidence linking deaths to occupational respiratory diseases.
Tshiamiso Trust CEO Munyadziwa Kwinda said the program aims to restore dignity to workers who built the mining sector. NSSA leader Charles Shava emphasized the importance of regional cooperation in protecting laborers who returned home with debilitating illnesses. Claimants must demonstrate permanent lung damage from workplace exposure at designated mines.
