Maputo — Anyone who discriminates against Mozambican workers in South Africa, or repatriates them, just because they are HIV-positive, or are suffering from AIDS, is breaking the law, South African Labour Minister, Membatsisi Mdadlana, declared in Maputo on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference after signing a labour agreement with his Mozambican counterpart Mario Sevene, Mdadlana admitted "there is a trend that, when a Mozambican worker is found to be HIV-positive, he is sent back to Mozambique. This is a violation of South African law, and such situations should be exhaustively investigated".

The South African minister said that any discrimination against HIV-positive workers should be denounced, and those responsible for such discrimination should be punished.

Mdadlana thought information campaigns should be waged among Mozambican miners and other migrant workers in South Africa, informing them of their rights, so that they would be able to denounce any acts of discrimination. For his part, Mario Sevene confirmed that there were indeed cases of Mozambican workers who lost their jobs and were sent back to Mozambique because they were HIV-positive. However, this has not been confirmed "officially", and so he too thought there should be a more detailed investigation of the phenomenon. Friday's agreement also sought to find solutions for employing those Mozambicans who enter South Africa illegally. The ministers also discussed ways of ensuring that repatriation of illegal migrants takes place in a human manner.

There are thought to be at least 220,000 Mozambicans working in South Africa, and 150,000 of these are in the country illegally.