Flush from winning a key round in litigation against the gold-mining industry on behalf of victims of silicosis earlier this year, lawyer Richard Spoor is set to launch a similar case next year, also at the High Court in Johannesburg. The case involves 22 former coal miners who say they contracted lung diseases after working at petrochemicals giant Sasol. "We are very confident. This is a winnable case," Spoor said. "Sasol runs better coal mines in terms of health and safety [than other coal-mining houses]. That is why we are targeting it. The others could be even worse," he said. "We have the 22 people with good cases, no controversies. They have all worked on different collieries owned by Sasol." The two types of disease the former employees have are coal workers' pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. They are similar to silicosis. The 22 workers were employed underground at various collieries, including Bosjesspruit, Brandspr...
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