JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Johannesburg High Courts’ decision earlier this month to give 69 mineworkers and silicosis sufferers the right to institute class action against 32 current and historical South African gold mining companies would have far-reaching implications for the country’s common law, according to law firm Clyde & Co. Speaking at a breakfast discussion at the firm’s Johannesburg offices, Clyde & Co associate Gregg Hammond said that the scope and magnitude of the case, which could see about 500 000 current and former mineworkers receive up to R200 000 each, was unprecedented in South Africa.
