Public health implications of changing patterns of recruitment into the South African mining industry, 1973–2012: a database analysis

Abstract

BackgroundThe triple epidemic of silicosis, tuberculosis and HIV infection among migrant miners from South Africa and neighbouring countries who have worked in the South African mining industry is currently the target of regional and international control efforts. These initiatives are hampered by a lack of information on this population.MethodsThis study analysed the major South African mining recruitment database for the period 1973 to 2012 by calendar intervals and demographic and occupational characteristics. Changes in area of recruitment were mapped using a geographic information system.ResultsThe database contained over 10 million contracts, reducible to 1.64 million individuals. Major trends relevant to health projection were a decline in gold mining employment, the major source of silicosis; increasing recruitment of female miners; and shifts in recruitment from foreign to South African miners, from the Eastern to the Northwestern parts of South Africa, and from company employees to contractors.ConclusionsThese changes portend further externalisation of the burden of mining lung disease to home communities, as miners, particularly from the gold sector, leave the industry. The implications for health, surveillance and health services of the growing number of miners hired as contractors need further research, as does the health experience of female miners. Overall, the information in this report can be used for projection of disease burden and direction of compensation, screening and treatment services for the ex-miner population throughout Southern Africa.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4640-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Tackling injustices of occupational lung disease acquired in South African mines: recent developments and ongoing challenges

“…The centre-piece of our analysis derives from the database established by CCOD/MBOD as described below, with newly compiled employment data [ 13 ] used to further estimate the potential extent of the ongoing challenges. First, we assessed the number of claims paid, unpaid and deemed non-compensable, by country across southern Africa, by type of claim, gender and year.…”

“…First, we assessed the number of claims paid, unpaid and deemed non-compensable, by country across southern Africa, by type of claim, gender and year. We then calculated the current rate of claims for each of the southern African countries with at least 25,000 miners who worked in South African mines, taking the 1.6 million miners in The Employment Bureau of Africa (TEBA) database [ 13 ] as the denominator. Next, to assess the potential size of unclaimed mining-related lung disease, we calculated expected number of claims by country of origin.…”

“…Our study discusses some recent initiatives to tackle injustices for ex-miners, assessing accomplishments, documenting shortfalls and analyzing persisting challenges. We draw on first-hand knowledge, key informant interviews as well as never-previously published data from a database of over 300,000 miners and ex-miners who filed compensation claims, linking these to recently published employment data [ 13 ] on miners from across southern Africa. Below we first briefly present some essential historical background, then the methods and results of our analysis of recent developments.…”

“…Initial reliance on skilled workers triggered a migration of experienced deep shaft miners from the United Kingdom, many of whom brought with them tuberculosis acquired during Britain’s Industrial Revolution [ 15 ]. The labour-intensive methods pursued in South Africa gold mining triggered the additional colonial practice of importing workers from neighbouring areas, a pattern that has diminished but still persists [ 13 ]. With the heavy toll generated by exposure to silica dust, along with difficult working and living conditions, hundreds of thousands who worked in the mines of South Africa not only contracted chronic dust-induced diseases but also incurred high rates of tuberculosis [ 16 ].…”

“…Indeed those who worked in South African gold mines have incurred rates of tuberculosis up to ten times greater than the general population [ 11 ]. In the 1970s, most of these individuals (an estimated 55%) had left families in Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and elsewhere in southern Africa to work in these mines [ 13 ]. Coercive policies and legislation restricting access to land and means of production in these countries were among measures forcing male labourers to migrate to become mine workers, often disrupting family ties and undermining the rural black agricultural economy in order to maintain sources of cheap labour [ 17 ].…”