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Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines
The purpose of this dissertation is to present an analysis of the relationship between the law of delict – specifically the element of factual causation – and the manner in which this element should apply to an assessment of the liability of gold mining companies in South Africa and their failure to...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Private Law
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613417015083008 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | De Waal, Lisa |
| author2 | Price, Alistair |
| author_browse | De Waal, Lisa Price, Alistair |
| author_facet | Price, Alistair De Waal, Lisa |
| author_sort | De Waal, Lisa |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | The purpose of this dissertation is to present an analysis of the relationship between the law of delict – specifically the element of factual causation – and the manner in which this element should apply to an assessment of the liability of gold mining companies in South Africa and their failure to protect mineworkers from exposure to silicosis, silico-tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis. It is argued that the Constitutional Court's interpretation, and their ultimate application of the test for factual causation in Lee v Correctional Services 2013 (2) SA 144 (CC), in the form of the material increase of risk test, is precedent for the assessment of factual causation within the tuberculosis class in Nkala and Others v Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd and Others 2016 (5) SA 240 (GJ). To underscore this argument, analogies are drawn between the powerful positions of gold mining companies and the State, and the vulnerable positions of mineworkers and prisoners in South Africa, as well as the Constitutional obligations owed by the State and gold mining companies towards prisoners and mineworkers, respectively. Furthermore, reasons why the material contribution test should apply to the silicosis class are discussed. This dissertation also outlines the statutory and common law duties owed by mining companies to underground mineworkers, for establishing these requirements is a requirement of the material increase of risk and material contribution tests. It is noted that the trial court in the Nkala class action suit should apply the aforementioned tests for factual causation to the two classes, failing which would be an injustice to legal precedent, and would be unfair and unreasonable. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25266 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:35:48.783Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Private Law |
| publisherStr | Department of Private Law |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25266 Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines De Waal, Lisa Price, Alistair Private Law Law of Delict The purpose of this dissertation is to present an analysis of the relationship between the law of delict – specifically the element of factual causation – and the manner in which this element should apply to an assessment of the liability of gold mining companies in South Africa and their failure to protect mineworkers from exposure to silicosis, silico-tuberculosis and pulmonary tuberculosis. It is argued that the Constitutional Court's interpretation, and their ultimate application of the test for factual causation in Lee v Correctional Services 2013 (2) SA 144 (CC), in the form of the material increase of risk test, is precedent for the assessment of factual causation within the tuberculosis class in Nkala and Others v Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd and Others 2016 (5) SA 240 (GJ). To underscore this argument, analogies are drawn between the powerful positions of gold mining companies and the State, and the vulnerable positions of mineworkers and prisoners in South Africa, as well as the Constitutional obligations owed by the State and gold mining companies towards prisoners and mineworkers, respectively. Furthermore, reasons why the material contribution test should apply to the silicosis class are discussed. This dissertation also outlines the statutory and common law duties owed by mining companies to underground mineworkers, for establishing these requirements is a requirement of the material increase of risk and material contribution tests. It is noted that the trial court in the Nkala class action suit should apply the aforementioned tests for factual causation to the two classes, failing which would be an injustice to legal precedent, and would be unfair and unreasonable. 2017-09-20T13:58:16Z 2017-09-20T13:58:16Z 2017 Master Thesis Masters LLM http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25266 eng application/pdf Department of Private Law Faculty of Law University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Private Law Law of Delict De Waal, Lisa Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines |
| title_full | Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines |
| title_fullStr | Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines |
| title_short | Unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in South African gold mines |
| title_sort | unearthing the relationship between disease and causation in south african gold mines |
| topic | Private Law Law of Delict |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25266 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dewaallisa unearthingtherelationshipbetweendiseaseandcausationinsouthafricangoldmines |