"When you get sick, they tell you that you cannot work in the coal mines any more. But you cannot get compensation because they [also] say you can still work somewhere else," says former Sasol Mining employee Lindani Mkhwanazi. Mkhwanazi and 21 other employees, all in their 50s, lodged a R83-million damages claim against Sasol's mining arm in the Johannesburg High Court this month. They claim they contracted lung disease by being exposed to coal dust while working for Sasol Mining from 1971.The case, launched by activist lawyer Richard Spoor, is one of many legal challenges likely to be launched against South Africa's coal mines, threatening to cast an unflattering spotlight on safety practices in an area of the mining industry that has often flown under the radar.Sasol refused to comment as the case was "before the courts".But two internal medical reports in Business Times's possession, which Sasol commissioned to establish the cause of the lung disease in two staff members, referred to lack of dust control and said that dust masks issued by the company "did not seal properly".The first report was issued in 2012, but the same issues were raised again in the 2014 report.The first report involved an employee who had been at the mine since 1983. Under a section titled "contributing to unsafe conditions and workplace practices", Sasol's medical investigator said: "Early years - no dust control. Only started with spraying of dust approximately 1996."Mkhwanazi, 55, worked at Sasol Mining's Bosjesspruit Colliery from 1988 to 2004, when he was diagnosed with lung disease. Coughing and battling for breath, Mkhwanazi said Sasol told him he would not be compensated because he could be redeployed to a job above-ground or find a job elsewhere."I asked them how that can it be when I have worked for Sasol for 16 years," he said. "They [Sasol] told me that I will get compensation from government and that they had submitted an application on my behalf."To date I have not received the compensation, and when I went back to inquire about this I was told that their role was to register me and that it ended there."Mkhwanazi said he had to see a specialist for his lung disease at R2000 a consultation.Coal dust can cause pneumoconiosis, progressive massive fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, say experts.Paulos Maloyi, 55, a former mine team leader who comes from Sterkspruit in the Eastern Cape, said he was told in 2011 he was too sick to go on working underground. "I started to feel chest pains in 2010, and [was] feeling tired all the time. But I didn't know the reason until I was told I could not go underground any more. They kept me working on the surface until 2013, when they told me I have to leave because I was sick."Maloyi, a father of four children who survives on government grants, said his medical aid was halted when he left the company, and he had to pay his own medical expenses."I have been using the money that they paid me when they fired me to attend a specialist heart hospital in Pretoria. My situation is hopeless because the medication I use is not available in public hospitals."In response to questions, Sasol said: "All Sasol Mining employees are provided with medical support per the requirements of the applicable legislation. Should cases of further support be required, it is possible to reopen the case for consideration of support. No employee is ever 'chased away' for contracting an occupational disease."Sasol said employees who contracted an injury or disease at work could be compensated under the law.However, in this case, the miners are asking to be paid for their expenses - both medical and for loss of income - which would far exceed a payout under the law.Spoor, who brought the case on behalf of the miners, said: "I don't understand why it's necessary to even litigate around these issues. It's clear that these mineworkers were exposed to dust levels beyond legal regulations, they are sick and they have never been compensated by Sasol .... Sasol should take responsibility whether it was intentional or not."Research reported on in the Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in 2008 found Sasol staff were exposed to dust levels of nearly 2.5mg/m2. The maximum allowed in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act is 2mg/m2. In the US, the level for coal mine dust is 1mg/m2.Spoor, who won a R490-million civil damages claim for asbestos-related disease from Gencor in 2003, said: "We need to examine practices in other mines."..