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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
REPRESENTATIVES of Southern African Miners Association (Sama) in Zimbabwe have said close to 4 000 ex-Wenela workers have registered for terminal benefits.

Wenela, acronym for Witwatersrand Native Labour Association in South Africa, closed in the early 1980s and thousands of locals who once worked there are poised to receive a windfall once pension talks are concluded.

Xulu Attorneys of South Africa have been engaged to represent the former workers, drawn from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, among others.

The ex-workers will at a later stage be expected to go for X-rays so that they get compensated if they contracted lung diseases such as silicosis during their period of employment, a process which will be funded by the World Bank, according to Sama Zimbabwe representative Mr Lungelwe Mkwananzi.

In an interview, Mr Mkwananzi urged members to be patient saying they are now at a stage of compiling names of possible beneficiaries which they will be sending to South Africa for consideration.

“The Zimbabwe situation is different from other countries who still have workers in South Africa and that is why it seems a bit difficult for us. We now have a list of places where we should search for names of former miners as they are not in one place.

“We are still compiling names and so far we have around 3 700. Once we submit the names we will then be clear on what comes next and thereafter claim forms can be released,” said Mr Mkwananzi.

He said a meeting was held in Johannesburg a fortnight ago followed by another one in Bulawayo on Thursday last week to apprise members on the developments.

Sama Zimbabwe has opened branches countrywide where there are former Wenela miners but the country office is in Bulawayo.

“We are now at a stage to get the money and we are taking names which we will forward to the financial service board before people get to the claim stage,” said Mr Mkwananzi.

Mr Mkwananzi said the recent meeting in South Africa resolved that all member countries must open social media communication platforms such as a Website, You Tube and WhatsApp to be able to effectively communicate and update beneficiaries.

It was also resolved to adopt a gender and youth policy to accommodate youths and widows whose parents and husbands who worked in the mines have died.

Surviving spouses and children can claim benefits on behalf of the deceased former miners and have to approach the ex-Wenela offices to register. Some of the mines closed down and beneficiaries will be paid through the Rand Mutual Insurance.

Countries have been clustered and the first group has been covered while Zimbabwe is in the second group whose turn will come in the next phase spanning until 2020, said Mr Mkwananzi.

He said Sama will also trace names of all ex-miners who died in the mines and cause not only their compensation but repatriation through formal government channels.

Mr Mkwananzi said EU countries have shown interest in facilitating payment of claims as they acknowledge that Africa is poor as a result of exploitation. — @ncubeleon