Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - June 8, 2001
Stewart Bailey

Statistics released last week by Lonmin show the group's workforce is hard hit, with a staggering 6000 of its employees, or 26% of its workforce, already infected with the killer virus.

Working on Lonmin's current figures -- which are gleaned from absenteeism and testing of the workforce for related illnesses -- the infection rate among its staff will peak in 2005, when close to 8000 of its workers are expected to fall foul of the virus. In the same year Lonmin predicts a staggering 3000 workers, or 12,5% of its workforce, will die as a result of the virus.

Already the rising trend is evident, given that last year 86 of the group's employees died from Aids or Aids-related illnesses -- more than double the previous year's figure of 39.

Meanwhile, new HIV cases reported among Lonmin's workforce are also steeply up; 415 new cases were reported last year compared to 270 in 1999.

Lonmin, however, says the annual mortality rate at 0,46% of its workforce is half the industry rate, which raises the question of how the region's other mining groups will react when they lose a quarter of their labour pools. Even if these figures are wrong by half, the effects could be apocalyptic for the region's dominant resource industry.

Sound shocking? Well, Lonmin estimates that the problem could in fact be even worse than forecast. In a worrying statement contained in its safety, health and environment report, the group says: "The total number of deaths at Lonmin Platinum could be higher, as some Aids-affected employees proceed voluntarily on leave when very ill and never return."

Just how many of these absent employees never return is anyone's guess, and how many infections take place when they are off the mine with their families, who often live in remote locations, is also open to conjecture.

What is certain, though, is that Southern Africa's mines, many of which still have single-sex hostels and large migrant workforces, are proving to be fertile breeding grounds for the virus. Another certainty is that the growing number of infections will bite into productivity and increase costs as the traditionally free medical service provided by mining houses becomes overburdened.

The Chamber of Mines says in its latest annual report the vast majority of all employees in the country's mining clinics are hospitalised for Aids-related illnesses.

To its credit, Lonmin's policy for dealing with the problem appears down-to-earth and unashamedly realistic. Indeed, realism and innovation are the keys to solving the problem if one considers that the South African Chamber of Mines confirms that more than a decade ago 94,6% of the country's miners were aware of the seriousness of the disease. "But this failed to result in the required behaviour change," the Chamber says.

This could have something to do with the highbrow or vague awareness campaigns of the past, which obviously missed their mark.

Peter Ledger, the head of Lonmin's operations in South Africa, says the company has enlisted the help of prostitutes working in the areas around its mines to try to stem the rising tide.

Management has obviously come to the conclusion that, while people are slow to change ingrained sexual habits, it can be more effective to create a safer environment for staff to engage in casual sex than to try to eliminate the behaviour altogether. The programme allows prostitutes free, regular testing and encourages them to communicate the dangers of unprotected sex to their clients.

An unfortunate aside to a well-thought-out programme, however, is that Ledger sees South Africa's proliferation of public holidays as being a greater threat to productivity than the HIV/Aids virus; time may well prove him wrong.

Time will also tell if the group's revolutionary model will work. Meanwhile, mining groups will continue their two-pronged approach of educating their charges and trying to seek out workable mechanisation programmes to buffer them against the rising mortality and absenteeism rate. But local fund managers are not holding their collective breath, as previous attempts to become less reliant on labour have inevitably fallen short of the mark.
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