Willem le Roux

Willem le Roux is an Executive Consultant at ENS in the Mine and Occupational Health and Safety practice. His primary practice area is Mining Law.

He began his career as a State Advocate in Cape Town (1976–1979) and later completed articles at a law firm. He served as a director at a major Johannesburg firm (1984–1993) before co-founding Brink Cohen Le Roux Inc. in 1993, which joined ENS in 2013.

He has acted in several large and extensive litigation matters, and some of the foremost chemical and metal corporations and mining houses — including one of the largest gold producing mining companies in the world — have enlisted his expertise for high-profile inquests, inquiries, litigation and prosecutions. Such matters include large seismic events and falls of ground, furnace explosions, slimes dam disasters and flammable gas explosions in mines on South Africa's West Rand, KwaZulu-Natal, Rustenburg area and the Free State. His extensive experience in major inquiries and litigation (1985 to date) includes the Merriespruit disaster (1994), the Vaal Reefs locomotive accident (1995), the Koeberg investigation (2006), and the Grayston pedestrian bridge collapse (2015).

He represented mining stakeholders at the Leon Commission (1993–1994), whose report gave rise to the enactment of the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 ("MHSA"). He also played a key role in drafting the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 as a member of the Ministerial Task Team. He regularly comments on proposed amendments to South African mine health and safety legislation and compensation legislation.

He has successfully defended mine managers and other employees on charges of culpable homicide and alleged contraventions of the MHSA relating to mine accidents. He has represented employers in claims for damages based on lung diseases, an inquiry into manganism, and has acted on behalf of one of the world's largest gold mining companies in silicosis litigation. He has acted in occupational health matters (1993 to date) involving silicosis, asbestosis, occupational asthma and manganism, and continues to act in class actions including coal mine dust lung disease.

He is the author of LexisNexis' Mine Health and Safety Law (2011), a loose-leaf commentary on the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996, and co-author of the Commentary to the Construction Regulations, 2014, as well as Occupational Health and Safety Law (2016). He has lectured graduates and LLM students in prospecting and mining law at the Mandela Institute of the University of Witwatersrand and was Professor Extraordinarius in Labour Law at Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) from 1994 to 2000.

His recognition includes being listed in Chambers Global Guide as a "Senior Statesman" for Energy and Natural Resources: Mining Health and Safety (South Africa, 2015–2026), The Legal 500 EMEA for Mining (South Africa, 2015–2026), Who's Who Legal for Mining (South Africa, 2015–2019), and Best Lawyers for Mining and Occupational Health and Safety Law (South Africa, 2018–2023).

He holds a BIuris and an LLB from the University of Pretoria and is admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.