The high price of gold
Tens of thousands of South African gold miners who have suffered from the devastating diseases contracted because of their work and the demand for gold around the world may now have a chance to receive compensation. The miners who got lung diseases while working underground, as well as families of miners who died of such diseases, are now able to launch a class action suit against the mining companies thanks to a ruling by the country's High Court on May 13, 2016. The ruling opens the way for litigation spanning decades of cases.
Many people who are now sick worked in South Africa's gold mines during apartheid, when miners rarely had the proper gear to protect them against silica dust inhalation. They suffer diseases such as silicosis, preventable but incurable, and pulmonary tuberculosis.
British photographer Thom Pierce, who is based in Cape Town, South Africa, photographed 56 sick minors and widows across the country in the Eastern Cape, Lesotho and Johannesburg who are named in court documents.
Patrick Sitwayi (seen here with his daughter-in-law) lives in with his wife, five children and three grand children. He is 57-years-old and has silicosis from working underground for 22 years. He did not receive any compensation for his illness and is unable to support his family without a job. He has to walk with crutches because his toes became infected and were amputated. He said the primitive safety equipment and hot working conditions in the mines, caused excess sweating that collected in his plastic gumboots.
The high price of gold
Miners who contract silicosis, an entirely preventable lung disease, get tired and out of breath quickly. They are prone to lung infections, respiratory failure and TB, according to Pierce.
Sekhobee Letsie, 72, started working in the mines in 1970. He now has silicosis and says he was never taken for medical screening while working on the mines. He has not gotten any compensation, and lives off of the small amount of farming he is able to do, or money from one of his children.
The high price of gold
Myekelwa Mkenyane was 18 when he started working in the gold mines. He worked for 35 years and was discharged in 2009 when he was diagnosed with silicosis. He received R36,000 in compensation ($2,580) but has not been able to work since.
"It was very hard to leave my family behind, but because I wanted to support them financially I had no choice but to be away for so long...When there was blasting underground, I cannot forget it. I still remember the dust from the explosions. That is what makes me sick today."
Mkenyane, now 59-years-old, poses with his daughter Nophiwe Nqoko in Mgungu, Bizana.
The high price of gold
Masiko Somi, 58, fell sick while home on leave from his job. He had been screened at work but had not been told that there was anything wrong with him. He traveled to see a private doctor in Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal who advised him to stay at home for a while to get better. Unable to communicate with the mine, he was dismissed because he was late when he returned to work.
Somi (seen here with his wife Magumede in Nyaka, Bizan) worked at President Steyn Mine for 19 years and was not compensated for his silicosis. "I have tried to get work for the last 20 years but my health has not allowed me to," he said. " We survive by getting temporary jobs from neighbors, building fences and ploughing mielie (corn) fields."
The high price of gold
Makeneude Agnus Litabe is the widow of Michael Litabe who passed away in 2014 at age 60. She is 49 and lives in Motemekoane near Maseru in Lesotho.
Her late husband worked in the mines for 29 years and received R38,000 ($2,726) when he was diagnosed with silicosis. She now has to survive by growing vegetables and farming cattle on her own. Her eldest daughter works as a domestic worker in Pretoria and sends home R1,000 ($72) every 3 or 4 months. "Before my husband died he lost a lot of weight and his skin became black. He was in a lot of pain. I feel that the mine must be liable."
The high price of gold
Tekeza Joseph Mdukisa, 66, was diagnosed with silicosis at the time he was being retrenched, after 28 years working at Western Deep Levels Mine. He was 49-years-old and they paid him R36,000 (approx. $2,600) and sent him home.
"I was illiterate and so I wanted to make enough money for my children to be educated. Now I am home I cannot afford to pay for my children, who have passed grade 12, to go on to further education... I am now teaching my children to plough the fields."
Mdukisa with his wife, Nothembile in Amadiba, Eastern Cape.
The high price of gold
Alloys Msuthu lives in Ramafole, in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape. He is 61-years-old and has silicosis (stage 2) from 32 years working underground in the gold mines. He received R60,000 compensation ($2,300).
Msuthu started as a winch driver and became a locomotive driver before becoming a supervisor. As a supervisor he was paid R3,000 ($215) a month and from that he would send R1,500 ($107) home to his family. In 2009, he was discharged from the mine because of his silicosis. He was admitted to hospital for two years and is now unable to find any employment. "I was liked by my supervisors because I was meeting my targets. My team used to listen to my instructions and respected me. I had pride in my work and dedicated all my energy and time to it. That is why I got silicosis."
The high price of gold
Landile Qebela, 52, has nine children and works as a security guard now that he cannot work in the mines any longer. He served 32 years in Vaal Reefs Shaft No 8 and when he was diagnosed with silicosis he received R52,000 compensation in 1995 (approx. $3,730).
He stayed at the mine for another 5 years after his diagnosis, working as a locomotive driver on the surface until he was retrenched because they could not find a suitable job for someone so sick.
Qebela went to find work in the mines when he was 25-years-old because his mother became sick and he needed to make money to provide for his sister's future. He managed to send enough money home over the years to support her until she gained her teacher's certificate.
Qebela with his wife Nomzi Elizabeth in Ngxokweni, Lebode, Eastern Cape.
The high price of gold
Zaneyezi Ntloni lives in Flagstaff in the Eastern Cape. He is 59-years-old and started working in the gold mines when he was 16-years-old. He stayed for 34 years and worked as a machine operator. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis and silicosis and told to send his eldest son to replace him. When his son arrived, Ntloni was sent home with no compensation.
"I loved my job so much," he said. "I was able to support my family, especially my wife and children. That is what I was thinking about all the time I was working."
Zaneyeza Ntloni with wife Nomfazwe Ntloni.
The high price of gold
Zwelakhe Dala passed away on March 30, 2015. His death certificate just states that he died of natural causes. He was 55-years-old and was suffering from silicosis. He worked in the gold mines for 28 years and received no compensation when he got sick from exposure to the silica dust.
"It is too painful. If my husband was not working on the mines, he would still be alive." says his wife, Nosipho Eunice Dala. Dala raised their five children on her own, for the most part. She is now left with no income except for a small pension in Matantsine, Eastern Cape.
The high price of gold
Mncedisi Dlisani, 59, worked with the explosives team at Western Areas Mine. He would drill the holes, place the dynamite and light the fuse from a distance away. This exposed him to a large amount of dust.
"Sometimes we used masks and sometimes we didn't. There wasn't always a supply." he said. He was diagnosed with Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB of the lungs) and spent nine months in the mine hospital. During that time he did not receive his monthly wage to send home. His wife, Nokwakha, had to beg relatives for money to feed her family.
Dlisani left his job two years later and returned to Butterworth where he spent another nine months in hospital. After 15 years of service at Western Areas Gold Mine, he received no compensation for his illness. Due to bad weather and poor building materials the walls of their main house collapsed. They now live in a one-room rondavel (round hut) next door because they do not have money to repair their home.
The high price of gold
Monde Mxesibe, 62, lives alone in Zagwityi near Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. He worked in the mines for 26 years. He has Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB of the lungs) and in 1996 the mine told him that he would be compensated. Mxesible still has not received any compensation.
He says that the scariest thing about working in the mine was the lift journey to go underground. About 75 people would cram into a three-story cage, which was held by just one steel cable. He heard that the rope had once broken in another mine and everyone in the lift died. He tried hard not to think about it and focused on the money he was making to send home to his parents. Mxesibe's big dream in life was to own a car but he never managed to save enough money.
The high price of gold
Mthuthuzeli Mtshange has 8 children. His family live in Flagstaff, 390 km (192 miles) from Queenstown. He works as a gardener in Queenstown to make money to send home for his family. He is paid R50 a day (approx. $3.70). He lives in a township on the outskirts of Queenstown sine it is all he can afford.
Mtshange worked in the gold mines for 35 years and was retrenched without reason in 1996. He was diagnosed with silicosis and tuberculosis and received no compensation from the mines.
The high price of gold
Malungisa Thole, 57, worked at Western Areas Mine for 19 years and was paid no compensation when he developed silicosis. In his spare time he taught himself to weld and now supports his family with his small welding business in Bizana, Eastern Cape.
"I feel very sad because I worked for the mines, making profit for them but they treated me unfairly by not providing good protective measures."
British photographer Thom Pierce has documented the stories of gold miners whose health has been ravaged by pulmonary diseases caused resulting from their years of work in the mines. Visit his website, to see more of his work.
Fore more on Pierce's project: The Price of Gold