Migrant Hostel for 30,000 miners working away from their families, Lonmin Platinum Mines, South Africa

Miners, Migrant Hostel, South Africa, 2000. Some of the 30,000 migrant miners who live in a hostel at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg in South Africa. They share their rooms with up to twelve other men. A recent survey done by the mine found that 25 percent of its workforce is HIV-positive. Many of the men come from neighboring countries or live so far away that they are able to return to their families for only two weeks a year.