Langutani Elias Zitha. (Photo: Eric Miller)

Langutani Elias Zitha started working at the Tshikondeni mine in 1992 at the age of 21, starting off as a general worker, driller and roof support.

“Drilling and roof support exposed me to a lot of dust and using the compressor meant a lot of dust would fall onto my head,” he told Daily Maverick. 

According to Zitha, the mine only introduced dust masks for mineworkers in the earlier 2000s. He says that he started noticing he would cough up black lumps of mucus whenever he would go on leave. Zitha says that when he started getting really sick with chest pains, feeling weak and coughing in 2009, the mine doctor told him that he needed to stop working for two to three months because he could see that Zitha’s lungs were filled with coal dust. However, the doctor did not explain anything further and simply gave Zitha a certificate saying he could return to work after the prescribed period. 

“After that, I continued working until 2013 when the doctor told me I could no longer work underground, so I worked above ground until the mine closed in 2014 and I was retrenched. The mine promised me a medical checkup after six months but it didn’t happen, even after I kept asking them. I applied for other jobs in other mines, however, the doctor said I could not go because I was sick, so I ended up not working.

“It makes me angry because I had two children and needed to take care of them and pay their school fees. It’s only recently that I got this job on this citrus farm. If I were to meet the mine bosses right now I would tell them straight that you damaged us and you knew what you were doing. People are dying because of this sickness, just last year four people I know died. I constantly feel pain. I can feel that I am deteriorating. Sometimes when I wake up coughing at night I think I could also die, we’re dying like flies now.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: Used, abused and discarded – former coal miners from Limpopo launch class action against Exxaro

Jane Mulaudzi. (Photo: Eric Miller)

Jane Mulaudzi is the 60-year-old widow of Thifhelumbilu Simon Mulaudzi, who died during the consultative process of the class action lawsuit in 2021. His widow has now taken up the battle on his behalf.

A tearful Mulaudzi says she remembers how her husband started getting very sick in 2012. 

“At night he would sweat so much that he would soak the bedding, complaining of a painful tight chest, he would struggle to breathe and was vomiting up something black. He had to stop working in 2014 when the mine closed.”

Mulaudzi says that life was very hard after her husband stopped working as she also wasn’t working and says that she now survives on the R350 SRD grant and sells Mopane worms to substitute the grant.

“Now that my husband has died I also wish I could die because I am just living. The mine did not even send a message of condolence when my husband died.” 

She says she is now putting all her hope in the class action for some sort of compensation that would improve her life. 

Mulaudzi says her husband was a man who “loved his family and community, he was very friendly and everyone in our community respected him and would come to him for help.”

Elias Nyambeni. (Photo: Eric Miller)

Daily Maverick spoke to 72-year-old Elias Nyambeni while he tended to his fields along the Golwe river in the village of Vhuri Vhuri. He says he started working at Tshikondeni mine above ground in 1992 but only got registered in 1994. He said it was in 2000 that he started working underground as a coal cutter. 

“When I started to get sick in 2011 they took me out to go see a doctor who gave me leave for two weeks and kept on extending it.” 

Nyambeni says that his left leg stopped working and doctors could not figure out what was wrong. He also developed a painful cough and tightness in his chest. He said his leg felt frozen and later it was found out that the cartilage in his knee was worn out.

Nyambeni said he was subsequently told to stop working because of his ill health and was paid out a pension pack of just over R200,000. He says the mine referred him for medical attention at Louis Trichardt hospital and paid for his medical bill for a period of six months. Nyambeni says that in 2019 his vision started getting impaired in his left eye and then, in 2022, he lost vision in the eye completely. Doctors then discovered that there was a build-up of dust that was clogging the eye. Nyambeni says that his chest is in constant pain and becomes even worse when sleeping.

He says the pension money he got is long finished and now lives off his Sassa grant, as well as the sugar cane, sweet potato and maize that he reaps from his fields. 

“What I have planted here is not enough to sell; its just enough for my family.” 

Nyambeni says his illness makes him sad because if he hadn’t contracted it he would have been more productive. He says that mineworkers were often forced to work under dangerous conditions and when they would try to speak up they would be told not to waste time and carry on wring. 

“We found this confusing because during our induction training, we were taught that we need to first start by assessing potential danger before starting work.”

He says if he were to meet the owners of the mine he would tell them “very painful words” because they do not sympathise with the plight of mineworkers. 

Siala Mabuda Malfrede. (Photo: Eric Miller)

Sitting in his driveway with his crutches nearby, 63-year-old Siala Mabuda Malfrede told Daily Maverick that he started working at the mine in 1983 and said his lung problems were first discovered in 1992 when he went for an x-ray. This, he says, was also the year that the mine introduced dust masks. 

“I was the first one on the mine to use a dust mask and then I inducted the other mineworkers, this is when more safety precautions started being introduced on the mine.”

Malfrede said the mine doctor who discovered his lung illness via the x-ray did not tell him the specific diagnosis. When asked if he knew of any other mineworkers who had similar illnesses at the time Malfrede said that medical staff at the mine told miners not to tell others of their medical condition and that the health status was “their secret”.

He says he carried on working at the mine until 2015 when he was retrenched and got a retrenchment package of R250,000. He says that there were opportunities to work in another mine in Mpumalanga but his health disqualified him from being able to work.

Speaking to Daily Maverick Malfrede is interrupted by a coughing bout, “Even now as I am talking to you I am in pain, I often experience shortness of breath and feel like I can’t catch my breath. I can’t even walk to the end of the road here without running out of breath.” 

He aid that after he was retrenched the mine did nothing to assist with medical checkups or expenses. Malfrede said his sickness does not sit well with him because he feels that anything could happen and that he could die at any time.

Malfrede said that other than compensation, he would like an apology from the mine owners. 

“If I were to meet a mine boss now I would tell them that we worked for you and you failed to protect us, now we are sick and don’t even have money for doctors. Working in mines has hurt us to the core, when we started working there we were happy to have jobs but didn’t know what the consequences would be.”

Malfrede said that his money ran out some time ago and he now depends on his social grant to survive. 

“I used to have cattle but have had to sell them over the years, I am now just left with one calf.”

Titus Muvhali. (Photo: Eric Miller)

Daily Maverick found 58-year-old Titus Muvhali, a tall man with a broad smile, sitting under his mango tree. He said that he started working at Tshikondeni mine as a coal cutter in 1993, he says that while the work was fine, there was a lot of dust that came with it and at the time there were no dust masks. He said the only personal protection equipment they had were gum boots, plastic gloves, a helmet and goggles, dust masks were only introduced in 1996, he says he remembers this because it happened after an accident involving a table falling on one of the coal cutting machines, which killed 10 people.

Muvhali said that he would go for checkups every 12 months but the doctor he was seeing at the time didn’t tell him of anything being wrong. When a new doctor started working at the mine, however, he told Muvhali that he saw “something black” in his chest x-rays but he was just told to get back to work by his boss. Muvhali worked at the mine until it closed in 2015. In 2016, he started feeling really unwell and experienced a burning sensation in his chest and weakness. Muvhali said he sweats excessively at night. 

Muvhali said that he has used up his pension money and getting medical treatment is difficult because he lives far from the hospital, with a return trip by taxi costing R140, which he does not have. Muvhali says he is now living off the R350 SRD grant and whenever he feels strong enough will cut people in the community’s grass for between R150 – R200.

“If I were to meet the mine owners I would fight them because they knew that I’m sick and did not compensate me. Maybe if I knew earlier something could have been done. My life is on the edge now but even if I die during the class action at least my wife can be compensated. I would like God to help me to get compensated before I die so I can uplift my family.” 

When asked if he would let his child grow up to work on a mine, Muvhali said, “I would warn him about safety and tell him about my experience and disease now but I can’t stop him from working in order to survive. Most people who live around here used to work on the mine…”

Mboneni Johannes Gumbu. (Photo: Eric Miller)

63-year-old Mboneni Johannes Gumbu started working at Tshikondeni mine in 1996 as a rock driller using a jackhammer. He then went on to work as a conveyor belt operator before his final position of working at the induction school, which was only for two months. He said he started feeling sick in 2005 and that when he would go for checkups at the mine’s medical facility they would tell him that they saw “dark matter” in his lungs, but nothing was ever done about this by the mine.

Gumbu says he started experiencing pain in his chest and would cough up black phlegm, felt fatigued and would sweat excessively while sleeping. He says he also developed issues with his eyes. The mine then referred Gumbu to a hospital in Polokwane where he was prescribed glasses to wear while working. Gumbu says he was never told the exact diagnosis of his eyes, however.

Gumbu stopped working at the mine in 2014 and said that since his illness his quality of life had deteriorated. He also gets easily fatigued while doing chores and is unable to find any other work to survive. He relies on his social grant but said that if it is infrequent or late there is no cumulative compensation.

“The mine damaged my body and this makes me feel pained, I’m no longer the person I used to be. I really feel let down by the mine because when they took me for check-ups they knew what was happening to my body. When I started working there I was very fit but when I left my body was damaged.”

Regina Tshinane. (Photo: Eric Miller)

Regina Tshinane is the 54-year-old widow of Kumedzani Godfrey Masala. She told Daily Maverick that her husband worked at Tshikondeni mine from 1994 until 2005. She says that it was in 2003 that he started complaining about his chest being painful and tight. He would cough up black phlegm, sweat excessively and experience fatigue. He went to the mine clinic first, then was taken to Musina and then to Polokwane for medical observation.

Tshinane said her husband never told her what the diagnosis was but that on his return from Polokwane. Masala came back with medication and would regularly return to Polokwane for medical checkups between 2003 and 2005. In 2005 however, the mine told him that he could no longer work underground and promised to find him a job above ground. The job never materialised and, instead, they retrenched him.

“He tried to insist that he could still work but they refused. His condition worsened after retrenchment and when we contacted the mine they referred us to a doctor at Donald Fraser Hospital, who told [us] that his lungs were damaged but the mine had never told us this. He was never able to work again as the doctor told him he could no longer do heavy work. He couldn’t walk long distances or even to take a taxi.”

Tshinane says the mine paid Masala R60,000 pension and promised to pay more in compensation for his health but never did. Masala died in 2019 and Tshinane has taken up the battle of the class action suit on his behalf.

“At the time that my husband was jobless, our son was in university and was unable to complete his studies, he had to drop out and now he works as a security guard and that is not what he was studying to do. My husband was very supportive and encouraged our children to go to school so that they would not have to work in a job like his that left him sick.”

Tshinane says she feels pained because the mine knew all along of her husband’s illness yet they withheld how bad his condition was. She says that she was devastated by watching him suffer, especially after he was told that his illness could not be cured. 

“Seeing those x-rays still replays in my mind” 

“Even after my husband died I never heard a word from the mine.” 

Tshinane told Daily Maverick that if the class action is successful it will give her a sense of closure. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.