OVER 350 000 UNCOLLECTED EX-MINERS’ CLAIMS

EZULWINI – There is hope for Swazi ex-miners who worked in South Africa but have not claimed their benefits.

This follows an assurance that has been given by the South African Minister of Labour, Mildred Oliphant that through their Compensation Fund, they will gladly track their system to establish if there were Swazis who had not claimed or still awaited the finalisation of their claims.

Oliphant was speaking during the two-day bilateral meeting between the two countries, which is currently taking place at the Happy Valley Hotel.
She mentioned that the South African government, through its operation Ku-Riha which was launched last year, was tackling the backlog of compensation claims from mineworkers who suffered from occupational lung diseases while working in the sector.

It was mentioned at the workshop that the neighbouring country had about 350 000 claims that had not been collected, some of which were believed to belong to Swazi nationals and that there was a process already in place to trace the beneficiaries.

The minister highlighted that her country, through its Department of Health, had established a one Stop Service Centre for mineworkers’ medical examinations and compensation services on a decentralised basis.

“It is against this background that it would be advisable for the Swazi government to establish direct contact with the ministries of Health and Mineral Resources in South Africa to get an update on progress regarding Swazi nationals,” she said.

According to Oliphant, their system worked on the basis of an ID number which she said was a huge challenge for ex-mineworkers who strangely were not registered by their names at the time but through their employer numbers.

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