The high court in Johannesburg heard an application by Sonke Gender Justice Network and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to intervene as friends of the court in the planned class action lawsuit against South African gold mines. The organisations want to join in the case of Bongani Nkala and others v Harmony Gold and others‚ which will be heard in October.Nkala along with 68 other former mineworkers‚ all of whom contracted silicosis as a result of their exposure to crystalline silica dust while employed at the mines‚ seek the court’s permission to certify a class action against 32 gold mining companies.The class action concerns negligent conduct over a period of 50 years that allegedly caused mineworkers to contract silicosis and tuberculosis.The mineworkers seek to undertake the litigation as representatives of all current and former gold mineworkers who contracted silicosis‚ and dependants of deceased mineworkers who died after contracting the disease. The number of people who might benefit from the lawsuit is estimated at 200 000.TAC and Sonke seek to join the case to introduce evidence of the negative impact the gold mining industry’s neglect has had on labour-sending communities and particularly on women in rural areas.Their application is opposed by the mining companies in the main application.The companies claim evidence to be submitted by the TAC and Sonke would not differ materially from that already proffered by the applicants in the certification application. The gold mining companies claim the evidence would not assist the court.Advocate for the TAC and Sonke‚ Adila Hassim‚ said if allowed to intervene‚ the organisations would assist the court.However‚ Deputy Judge President Phineas Mojapelo asked Hassim whether this application would not result in the postponement of the main case in October.“It would be very undesirable to delay the hearing of the main application‚” Mojapelo said.Hassim said the organisations did not want to upset the timetable and hoped to find a way to fit within it.If the organisations are admitted as friends of the court‚ the mining companies would need to answer to the allegations contained in submissions to be made by them a month before the October application.However‚ lawyers for the mining companies including Gold Fields‚ said the friends of the court would have to advance its own argument and not repeat arguments that had already been made by the mineworkers.Alfred Cockrell SC‚ for Anglo American South Africa‚ said the evidence Sonke and the TAC sought to advance would not assist the court.The application continues on Tuesday. -RDM News Wire, TMG Courts and Law..