Richard Spoor

Richard Spoor is a South African activist and human rights attorney based in White River Mpumalanga who has more than 25 years of experience in complex litigation. A pioneer throughout the past 20 years in the fight for workers’ rights and safety, Spoor has become what The American Lawyer called the “bête noir” of the South Africa Mining Industry because of his unwavering commitment to holding mining companies accountable for their alleged ill treatment of workers, who are some of the country’s most underprivileged citizens. Spoor is a graduate of the University of Cape Town. He served his articles of clerkship with human rights lawyer Priscilla Jana in 1985 before joining labour law firm Cheadle Thompson and Haysom, where he became a partner. During this time, he represented people and organizations engaged in the struggle against apartheid. With the advent of democracy in 1994, he moved to White River Mpumalanga. Spoor focuses on the field of occupational health and safety. He has represented workers and trade unions in enquiries into some of the country’s worst industrial disasters in the chemical, construction, industrial and mining sectors. Over the last couple of decades, he has negotiated a number of pioneering settlements between employers and workers, or their dependents, in relation to occupational injuries and disease following major mining and industrial accidents and occupational disease epidemics. Among Spoor’s most notable settlements were those achieved on behalf of asbestos miners with Gencor and the Swiss multinational Eternit. These settlements led to the creation of the Asbestos Relief Trust and the Kgalagadi Relief Trust, both of which have, to date, paid more than R320 million in benefits to thousands of sick mine workers or their dependents suffering as a result of asbestos exposure. Spoor’s practice additionally embraces the fields of land reform and land/environmental rights, with special reference to the impact of mining on indigenous communities.

Formal Admissions:
Admitted to the High Court as an attorney.

Admission Status:
Practicing Roll