Press Statement: This Month we remember the plights of the wives of the Mozambican mineworkers

The month of August in South Africa is regarded as Woman’s Month. It is a month which is dedicated to provide a chance to introspect and reflect on both challenges and achievements of all women in our country. This month reminds us as a society that women are not only equal to men but are also instrumental in societal change. This is proven to be true on many occasions, but one that stands out in South Africa is the 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings, where over 20 000 women regardless of their race or class came together to protest against the amendments to the Urban Areas Act.

As we celebrate women’s month, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) and its’ partners, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Mozambican Mine Workers Association (AMIMO) continue to assist migrant mineworkers and their families who cannot access the social security benefits they are entitled, which include healthcare, pension schemes and worker compensation.

We dedicate this August to remembering the wives of Mozambican mineworkers who face insurmountable challenges and uncertainty when their husbands go to South Africa to pursue a better life by working on the mines. We have heard stories of women whose husbands simply never return home and no explanations are available. We have also heard stories of miners or their wives who are unable to access death/disability compensation, cannot access their pension, provident funds and other social benefits.

Many of these challenges could be addressed by adequate access to personal information which would unlock a myriad of rights relating to benefits and pension payments among others. The withholding of personal information is a barrier to the accessing of vital ancillary rights and leads to a situation of desperation for the miners and their families.

This lack of access is due to a number of barriers, including: a lack of knowledge among mineworkers and families about their entitlements and ways to access them; an unnavigable documentation and application process; language barriers; a lack of coordination both within and between the South African and Mozambican governments; and an overly complicated remittance and unfavourable banking and currency exchange system. The decades-long backlog of claims and the difficulties of tracking individuals across borders add to these challenges.

This Friday, the 12th of August (between 10h30am to 12h30) we are hosting an event at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown (which is one of the oldest mining township in South Africa). The main aim of the event is to initiate and facilitate a dialogue around issues faced by Mozambican mineworkers, especially the widows that are left behind after their husbands die due to mining related illnesses.

For more information, contact Carol Mohlala on 061 906 0353