Press release for International Labour Day: Voices from the Underground – the monopoly over personal information and how it prejudices migrant mineworkers and their widows

On May 1st the world celebrates, International Labour Day. It is a day where people are provided a time to reflect on the achievement of being gainfully employed so they can contribute to their families and societies well-being. On this day of celebration, we must not forget the disadvantaged with less access to their labour rights. Generations of migrant mine workers and their families in the Southern Africa region are confronted with labour issues and steps to establish migration management initiatives to spur rights based south-south labour mobility is vital.

Wives of Mozambican mineworkers 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 families who are unable to access death/disability compensation, cannot access their pension, provident funds and other social benefits.  Mozambican mine workers are subject to unfair labour practices and suffer unlawful deduction practices. The list goes on.  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.

The International Organisation for Migration, in conjunction with an Association for Mozambican Mine Workers (“AMIMO”) and Lawyers for Human Rights (“LHR”) is working on a project called “Voices from the Underground”, funded by the European Union (EU).  This project advocates for the rights of (primarily Mozambican) migrant mineworkers and their widows and provides legal assistance with various problems such as accessing pension and disability compensations, portability of benefits, unlawful salary deductions and labour practices.

The IOM, LHR and AMIMO remain concerned about the monopoly which TEBA (The Employment Bureau of Africa Limited, formerly known as Wenela), who controls the recruitment and management of migrant mineworkers in South Africa, wields over the personal information of migrant mineworkers.  A lack of access to personal information, inclusive of the fees imposed by TEBA for release of these documents, is much more than an administrative headache; it is an effective barrier to accessing the benefits which accrue from years of employment service to the mining industry.  The barriers in place to accessing personal information are a serious threat to the dignity and well-being of migrant mineworkers and their families.

To this end, LHR has filed a request in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, calling on TEBA to disclose their policies regarding the holding of personal information of migrant mineworkers.  We note with regret that the deadline for compliance has passed without any policies being forthcoming from TEBA.  LHR calls on TEBA to make the requested policies available and encourages TEBA to engage with all parties to prevent the monopolisation of personal information resulting in a barrier to rights recognition of vulnerable miners and their families.

For interviews contact: Patricia Erasmus, Manager of Refugee and Migrant Rights at Lawyers for Human Rights on 082 261 9157

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