Irene Afonso, communications officer of the Mozambican Employers'Association against Aids, said the situation had resulted in a lot of Mozambican miners who were infected with the HIV virus to be discriminated against by their employers.
"There is an agreement between the governments of Mozambique and SA, signed in 1988, on the contracting of the workers but in the clauses it does not mention issues regarding the health of the miners," she told Sapa in an interview on the margins of a four day national Aids conference in Maputo.
Afonso said while miners were contracted to work on the mines for periods of up to 12 months before they could go on a month long leave period, there was no legal instrument in their contract to facilitate the visit of their wives of partners.
"It is during this period that miners engage in promiscuous relationships, putting them at risk of getting infected with HIV," she said.