Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - June 18, 2000
Jacqui Pile

Debswana, the De-BeersBotswana partnership, which mines diamonds, is taking steps to combat the disease by encouraging their workers to take HIV saliva tests known as sero-prevalence surveys. The test requires workers to spit into a laboratory container which is then tested for HIVspecific antibodies.

Theoretically, however, such tests in SA would be considered a breach of the Employment Equity Act, says Brian Greenstein, Labour Relations Consultant at Andrew Levy and Associates. Chapter Two of the Employment Equity Act provides absolute prohibition on HIV testing, unless the Labour Court sanctions it.

"But, SA law is silent on whether an employer is permitted to carry out HIV testing where an employee requests it or volunteers," says Greenstein. He says repercussions against an organisation which carries out voluntary, anonymous HIV testing are unlikely, unless the employer uses the results against an employee or discloses them without consent.

Tsetsele Fantan, director of Debswana's HIV/Aids impact management, says the company decided to do mass voluntary and anonymous testing to establish the feasibility of making anti-retrovirals available to infected employees - either by setting up a trust fund or by an in-house medical aid.

The workers label the containers themselves and only have to fill in their age and position in the company, so there is no chance of disclosure or discrimination.

Over 28% of Debswana's workforce are infected with the virus compared with the 29% national average, which will have a severe impact on the the company and the country's economy.

SA statistics are also of concern. A survey, conducted by ING Barings, estimates that 25% of SA's workforce will be HIV-positive by 2005.

"We need to determine what groups of workers are most vulnerable, how old they are and what positions in the company they hold," says Fantan.

The drive to encourage voluntary testing was very successful at Debswana. Over 75% of the employees chose to participate in the research.

The good turnout is attributed to the fact that Debswana has run an effective, formalised policy to combat AIDS on its mines since the late 1980s, so workers are highly sensitised to the issue.

Perhaps more contentious is Debswana's decision to introducing HIV testing for bursary and scholarship applicants from this year. "We are spending about 17million pula a year on our scholarship programme," says Debswana MD Louis Nchindo. "The scholarship programmes are aimed at training people to replace employees who have AIDSrelated illnesses."

While the company is in effect discriminating against HIV-positive applicants, Greenstein says busary applicants are not covered by the Employment Equity Act since they are not employees.

"It is more the constitutional issue that is at stake," he says. But companies feel their hands are tied. Economically, they cannot afford to train and educate workers who may never be productive.

Current research shows that AIDS develops about eight years after HIV infection. Sponsoring students to study medicine or architecture, for example, would mean the chances of them completing their degrees and putting in a good few years of productive work for the company are slim.

"It's not pre-employment testing; it's pre-investment testing," says Fantan. "The biggest challenge in the war against AIDS is to change behaviour patterns. Testing for HIV is one incentive to encourage youngsters to change."

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