Seriti Resources, the mining group on the verge of becoming Eskom’s biggest coal supplier, has been warned that it could soon find itself in a class action lawsuit storm. Lawyer Richard Spoor has revealed that South African Energy Coal , which Seriti was about to acquire, is one of four coal mining companies against which a class litigation is in the process.
Thousands of gold sector workers who developed silicosis or pulmonary tuberculosis during or after their employment from 1965 stand to be paid between R70000 and R500000. SAEC’s mines are in eMalahleni and Middelburg, Mpumalanga. It supplies 14% of Eskom’s coal through these mines. “We definitely don’t want them to come and argue later that ‘we didn’t know, we weren’t aware and that it’s not our problem’,” Spoor said.