Author:albert-mushai

Dr Albert Mushai and Professor Robert W Vivian argue that workmen’s compensation probably has little to do with social welfare Workmen’s compensation is usually classified as being part of social welfare – and is treated as being part of the “welfare state”, so to speak. It is always discussed in economic literature on this basis; forming part of social welfare systems. It is usually classified as such automatically, with very little thought being given to the specific question: Is workmen’s […]

Evidence suggests that trusts do not provide the best solutions to the problems of compensation for occupational diseases – especially when dealing with the magnitude of silicosis claims in South Africa The silicosis issue seems now to have been decided with an agreement, sanctioned by the court, to establish a trust that will pay compensation. According to press reports, the mining industry will contribute R5 billion to the trust. The sum probably excludes administrative and legal costs which are specifically […]

With the Tiger Brands listeriosis outbreak still fresh in our minds and now the centre of a class-action lawsuit, it’s pertinent to study a remarkably similar event that occurred in Canada a decade earlier. In early 2018, there was an outbreak of listeriosis in South Africa involving mainly products made by Tiger Brands. The outbreak was traced to the company’s Polokwane plant. An estimated 200 people died from listeriosis and there was a large-scale recall of ready-to-eat cold-meat products across […]

As far as employers are concerned, the liability they incur towards third parties invariably involves the doctrine of vicarious liability. However, the nature of vicarious liability is changing – and employers should beware. The doctrine of vicarious liability holds that an employer is liable for harm or loss arising from the negligence, or other forms of wrongdoing of its employees, that occur in the course and scope of employment. Therefore, if the employer is a company, or some other type […]

Litigation is not an efficient way of dealing with the matter of occupational disease. We have previously dealt with two occupational health matters. The first involved Gencor and asbestosis. This matter started in London and later migrated to South Africa where it was eventually settled out of court with Gencor contributing several million rand as two trusts were formed. At the time, Gencor was involved in merger discussions to form BHP Billiton. The asbestos litigation could have held up the […]

With an out-of-court settlement taking place recently, the time is right to resolve the question of compensation for occupational diseases. We have previously discussed the silicosis litigation, where we expressed a view on how this matter should be dealt with going forward. The current system – whereby employees sue employers in terms of the ill-defined and ill-suited common law, resulting in the establishment of multibillion-rand trust funds, which are vulnerable to being “captured” down the road – is not the […]