Tshiamiso Trust has halted operations at its office in the Thaba Tseka district due to low activity, drawing the ire of former mine workers who now fear that they might never receive compensation after contracting lung diseases toiling in South African mines for years.
The organisation said during its intended five-month starting from September 2023, the office had experienced notably low lodgement activity, leading to its closure on Saturday.
“Maintaining the office’s operations was therefore unjustified, given the community’s limited utilisation,” it noted.
Out of the 1232 potential claimants in Tshiamiso Trust database, only 141 were lodged over five months, amounting to an average of less than two claimants per day.
In a statement last month, the chief executive officer of Tshiamiso Trust, Dr Munyadziwa Kwinda, said despite their best efforts to publicise the office’s opening and encouraging claim lodgement, the level of activity did not meet the anticipated numbers.
The numbers did not also align with the initial projections that justified the establishment of the office.
Dr Kwinda noted that they are cognisant of the impact that this decision will have on both current and potential claimants who have yet to lodge their claims.
He pointed out that despite efforts to announce the office’s opening through various radio stations and communication sent to specific government structures for dissemination, the expected numbers were not realised.
Following the weekend closure of the office, the Trust says it now intends to implement targeted outreach efforts to serve the Thaba Tseka community as and when the need arises.
Claimants who missed the opportunity to lodge at the now closed office can still lodge their claims at any nearest the Employment Bureau of Africa (TEBA) office, Dr Kwinda indicated.
He added: “Other offices in Maseru, Quthing, Mohale’s Hoek, Mafeteng, Mokhotlong, Leribe, Teyateyaneng and Qacha’s Nek remain operational because of the number of claimants who access Trust services on a daily basis.Claimants and potential claimants can either contact our call centre, chat with us live on WhatsApp to check eligibility to lodge and visit any TEBA office closer to them to lodge their claims, they will be assisted.”
Tshiamiso Trust manages thousands of claims for mineworkers eligible for compensation due to contracting TB or silicosis (an incurable lung disease contracted from the silica dust of gold-bearing rocks) from working in certain gold mines during specific periods between March 12, 1965 and December 10, 2019.
It was established in 2020 to give effect to the settlement agreement reached in 2018 between six mining companies and claimant attorneys in a historic silicosis and TB class action.
The companies are African Rainbow Minerals, Anglo American South Africa, AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Sibanye Stillwater, and Gold Fields.
Tshiamiso Trust went on to open lodgement offices in five countries including Lesotho. The satellite office in Thaba Tseka opened in September 2023, until it halted operations last week.
The executive director of Lesotho Ex-Miners Association, Rantṧo Mantsi, says the closure of the Tshiamiso Trust Thaba Tseka office would jeopardise the ex-miners’ chances of getting their dues.
Mantsi told theReporter a task team that liaises with the prime minister’s office needs to be resuscitated. The team is made up of ministries that have a hand in the payment of claims.
Mantsi disclosed the association had reported its misgivings about some of Tshiamiso’s activities, which he claimed were conducted without educating affected people about the details of the judgement of the court in South Africa which birthed the organisation, to the task team.
“We saw that operations were conducted illegally without complying with the judgement.
“According to the judgement, no one shall walk more than 70 kilometres to go access services provided by Tshiamiso Trust,” Mantsi said.
He also explained that the closure might negatively affect claimants because the judgement says offices will operate for 12 years, meaning until 2031.
He further indicated that potential claimants from distant villages like Lesobeng and Bokong in the Thaba Tseka district have never travelled to Thaba Tseka town, and therefore, do not know about Tshiamiso Trust.
Mantsi lamented that the office was closing at a time when the association was hard at work creating public awareness about Tshiamiso Trust and its activities.
The Trust says it has successfully lodged 51,632 Basotho claims through the nine lodgement offices across the country. Out of this total, 7,239 claims have been identified as eligible for compensation.
The organisation adds that it is only able to assist mineworkers (or their families if the mineworker is deceased) who worked at specific gold mines, during specific periods, and have permanent lung damage from silicosis or work-related TB due to risk work exposure.
