'There are occupational exposure limits that the mines are obligated to comply with, but we have seen across the board that these limits have not been complied with,' says an attorney from Richard Spoor Inc, which is suing coal mining companies for failing to protect workers.

Coal miners from the rural district of Vhembe in Limpopo have launched a class action against mining company Exxaro Group. They are being represented by Richard Spoor Inc attorneys.

The workers say they are ill and battling to survive as a result of various health conditions contracted while working on the Tshikondeni mine without adequate protective equipment or any compensation from the mine. This is the third class action Richard Spoor Inc has launched against coal mining companies.

Father Stan Muyebe has since 2015 been trying to get compensation for miners who contracted the lung disease pneumoconiosis, commonly known as "black lung disease", as a result of exposure to coal dust at Tshikondeni mine, now owned by Exxaro.

Muyebe is a member of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference. He told Daily Maverick that he was alerted to the plight of the miners while helping displaced rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo to navigate the land restitution process.

He says that after hearing the pleas for assistance from miners, he approached attorneys at Richard Spoor Inc who he knew had been helping gold miners who contracted pulmonary silicosis.

"RSI [Richard Spoor Inc], alongside the Southern African...