Suspected manganese poisoning victims were allegedly offered R800 000 each to undergo further testing.

A ferromanganese smelter near Durban did not insist its workers wear protective dust masks, even though dust levels were sometimes three times more than national legislative limits, a Labour Department inquiry heard on Thursday. The inquiry is investigating 40 alleged cases of manganism that have resulted from workers breathing in fumes.

An application to have a Labour Department inquiry into workers' exposure to poisonous fumes at a Cato Ridge ferromanganese smelter dismissed because of alleged bias was itself dismissed to loud cheers on Tuesday afternoon by the inquiry's presiding officer, departmental inspector Vuli Sibisi.

No life could be "sacrificed" in the name of profits, mining magnate and businessman Patrice Motsepe told protesting workers at a ferromanganese smelter near Durban on Monday. He was speaking to workers who on Monday staged a protest at the Assmang smelter following Sunday's blast, which claimed the lives of five people.

An explosion that ripped through a ferromanganese smelter near Durban on Sunday and claimed the lives of five people sparked protests by workers as a Labour Department inquiry into workers' exposure to poisonous fumes was about to start on Monday morning.

A formal inquiry by the Department of Labour into the exposure of poisonous fumes at a Cato Ridge manganese company will begin on Monday. The inquiry follows six cases of manganism that were reported at the Assmang plant. Manganism is acquired by overexposure to airborne manganese.

Attempts to reach an out-of-court settlement between a KwaZulu-Natal ferromanganese factory and its workers over compensation for manganese poisoning foundered on Wednesday. The workers' trade union and attorney accused the company, Assmang, of negotiating in bad faith.