HIV prevalent in mines

South Africa’s deputy minerals and energy minister was reported as saying about 45 percent of miners are infected with HIV, and warned that the industry would face a severe labour shortage if the epidemic was not brought under control. Addressing the launch of an AIDS awareness project for the mining industry, Susan Shabangu said: “We will experience a situation in which the productive population will not have the physical energy and or ability to perform their daily tasks.” South Africa’s mining industry employs about 550,000 people, most of whom are drawn from the country’s rural areas and from neighbouring countries of Swaziland, Mozambique and Lesotho. In 1997, the industry contributed 7.8 percent to the GDP and earned the country 42.3 percent of foreign exchange, mainly from gold exports.