South Africa's Historic Silicosis Class Action - Why the Settlement Matters

analysis

The lawyers for miners who either fell sick or died after contracting silicosis and tuberculosis on South Africa's gold mines, have reached a historic class action settlement with the industry. The R5 billion (US$400 million) settlement becomes the country's second class action resolution and therefore very much a precedent setter.

Class action is a newish feature within South Africa's legal landscape. It was incorporated into the country's post-apartheid era constitution adopted in 1996. But class action litigation has been used infrequently in South Africa, unlike in the US where it's become a prominent feature of justice.

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