A silicosis victim’s opponent has asked the court to pay him compensation, reports Rehana Rossouw
A DYING man’s five-year fight for compensation ended in Cape Town this week after his opponent stood up in court to deliberately testify in his favour.
Western Cape Department of Labour director Brian Williams turned a routine Workmen’s Compensation Commission hearing into a resounding victory for silicosis victim Sihlwele Siwanana, telling the hearing that the compensation his own department pays Siwanana should be increased.
Williams told the hearing the conditions in the factory where 59-year-old Siwanana had been employed were “medieval”.
His department’s advocate, Theo de Jager, capitulated after Williams finished speaking. The compensation commissioner in Pretoria will now decide what level of compensation Williams’s department should now pay. Siwanana contracted silicosis after working as a grinder for Cape Foundries for 22 years. Silicosis is an incurable disease, caused by inhaling dust from silica particles.
The compensation commission decided in 1992 that Williams’s department should pay Siwanana a lump sum of R9 000 and pension of R244 a month. Siwanana’s doctor found four other Cape Foundries workers also had silicosis and battled for five years for a hearing by the commission.
Williams, former general secretary of the Metal and Electrical Workers Union of South Africa, told the hearing he remembered Cape Foundries because its employees had sought the union’s help in the 1980s to improve workplace health and safety measures. “The dust was thick inside the plant. It was difficult to see from one side of the foundry to the other side because of the dust. I had difficulty breathing when I came out of there.
“Many workers were not wearing standard safety equipment like masks and boots, given the high level of dust. Conditions were so bad there that we were concerned people would be killed.”
Under cross-examination by De Jager, Williams said that had he been aware of the hearing earlier, it probably would not have taken place.
“I would strongly argue that the request of the plaintiff be responded to and I support very strongly that his compensation be increased.”
Advocate De Jager asked Williams if he was aware that he was appearing on behalf of his department. Williams said he was.
De Jager: “And you still say compensation should be increased?”
Williams: “Yes, I do.”