Mr Chairman, while MPs are sitting comfortably in this well-lit and temperature-controlled House, thousands of mine workers are toiling in dark and humid conditions deep underground.
South Africa is still very dependent on mining, which has been the backbone of our economy. But mining is a dangerous business. Two hundred mine workers die annually in work-related accidents.
While the Mine Health and Safety Amendment Bill aims to reduce risks, there will always be unavoidable accidents. We have all seen pictures of rescue workers carrying injured mine workers to the surface. What happens to these people, often disabled for life? Who cares for them when they cannot return to work?
The National Union of Mine Workers fought for Simon Radebe while he was still a worker. Now that he sits in a wheelchair, the Compensation Fund is his safety net. But the Compensation Fund is dysfunctional and it's not compensating people who rely on life saving medication, adult diapers, wheelchairs and oxygen. This fund, under the Department of Labour, is a bumbling bureaucracy and suffers under administrative mismanagement. For the sake of restoring the dignity of the injured workers, the DA believes the time has come to outsource this fund.