Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines
Background: From early in its history, gold mining in South Africa involved recruiting hundreds of thousands of workers from Malawi and other neighbouring countries to work in an environment conducive to high rates of tuberculosis and silicosis. Official recruitment from Malawi ended in the 1990s, d...
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Ubiquity Press
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Annals of Global Health |
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| Online Access: | https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/4680 |
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| author | Rinila Haridas Rodney Ehrlich Yotam Moyo Annalee Yassi Jerry Spiegel Khumbo Kalua |
| author_facet | Rinila Haridas Rodney Ehrlich Yotam Moyo Annalee Yassi Jerry Spiegel Khumbo Kalua |
| author_sort | Rinila Haridas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: From early in its history, gold mining in South Africa involved recruiting hundreds of thousands of workers from Malawi and other neighbouring countries to work in an environment conducive to high rates of tuberculosis and silicosis. Official recruitment from Malawi ended in the 1990s, depriving large numbers of these migrant miners of their livelihood, with limited or no access to employment-linked social benefits and services. Objectives: To describe barriers faced by Malawian migrant ex-gold miners in accessing social benefits related to occupational lung disease and related health services and medical examinations, and to identify needed actions. Methods: This study, conducted in the Blantyre region of Malawi, draws from field observations and interviews with 14 ex-gold miners who had worked on South African gold mines, supplemented by five key informant interviews. Data were analysed using a phenomenological and thematic analysis approach. Findings: Ex-migrant miners described precarious livelihoods and difficulty accessing employment-linked benefit examinations and health services. They are largely uncertain about their entitlements related to their past work in South Africa and the means for pursuing such rights. The division of responsibility within South Africa and between the governments of South Africa and Malawi has resulted in confusion and misinformation. Within Malawi, scarcity of funding, administrative hurdles and limited occupational lung disease expertise are barriers to expanding current services for ex-migrant miners as well as ex-miners from Malawian mines. Conclusions: A number of actions are needed: coordination between the Malawian government and South African agencies; integration of occupational health services, including for migrant ex-gold miners, into Malawi’s public health system; education of ex-gold miners and their dependents about their rights and related processes and the provision of relief aid through local and external support. Financial involvement of the South African mining industry that profited from the services of migrant miners is required to alleviate the burden on publicly funded health systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-60fba16a5e50469a85a79e1efcd9c93d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2214-9996 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-60fba16a5e50469a85a79e1efcd9c93d2025-08-20T03:12:42ZengUbiquity PressAnnals of Global Health2214-99962025-06-01911262610.5334/aogh.46804680Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold MinesRinila Haridas0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3145-9135Rodney Ehrlich1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5736-9237Yotam Moyo2https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0973-5402Annalee Yassi3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9103-4051Jerry Spiegel4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4699-3082Khumbo Kalua5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9284-9009School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British ColumbiaDivision of Occupational Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Cape TownDepartment of Occupational and Health Services, Ministry of Health, Government of Malawi, LilongweSchool of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British ColumbiaSchool of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British ColumbiaSchool of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British ColumbiaBackground: From early in its history, gold mining in South Africa involved recruiting hundreds of thousands of workers from Malawi and other neighbouring countries to work in an environment conducive to high rates of tuberculosis and silicosis. Official recruitment from Malawi ended in the 1990s, depriving large numbers of these migrant miners of their livelihood, with limited or no access to employment-linked social benefits and services. Objectives: To describe barriers faced by Malawian migrant ex-gold miners in accessing social benefits related to occupational lung disease and related health services and medical examinations, and to identify needed actions. Methods: This study, conducted in the Blantyre region of Malawi, draws from field observations and interviews with 14 ex-gold miners who had worked on South African gold mines, supplemented by five key informant interviews. Data were analysed using a phenomenological and thematic analysis approach. Findings: Ex-migrant miners described precarious livelihoods and difficulty accessing employment-linked benefit examinations and health services. They are largely uncertain about their entitlements related to their past work in South Africa and the means for pursuing such rights. The division of responsibility within South Africa and between the governments of South Africa and Malawi has resulted in confusion and misinformation. Within Malawi, scarcity of funding, administrative hurdles and limited occupational lung disease expertise are barriers to expanding current services for ex-migrant miners as well as ex-miners from Malawian mines. Conclusions: A number of actions are needed: coordination between the Malawian government and South African agencies; integration of occupational health services, including for migrant ex-gold miners, into Malawi’s public health system; education of ex-gold miners and their dependents about their rights and related processes and the provision of relief aid through local and external support. Financial involvement of the South African mining industry that profited from the services of migrant miners is required to alleviate the burden on publicly funded health systems.https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/4680ex-gold minersminingsocial securitysilicosistuberculosismalawisouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Rinila Haridas Rodney Ehrlich Yotam Moyo Annalee Yassi Jerry Spiegel Khumbo Kalua Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines Annals of Global Health ex-gold miners mining social security silicosis tuberculosis malawi south africa |
| title | Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines |
| title_full | Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines |
| title_fullStr | Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines |
| title_short | Unmet Occupational Health Needs of Malawian Ex-Miners from the South African Gold Mines |
| title_sort | unmet occupational health needs of malawian ex miners from the south african gold mines |
| topic | ex-gold miners mining social security silicosis tuberculosis malawi south africa |
| url | https://account.annalsofglobalhealth.org/index.php/up-j-agh/article/view/4680 |
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