South Africa: 'Aids Low On List of Worries' for SMEs

South Africa: 'Aids Low On List of Worries' for SMEs

Owners of small and medium businesses (SMEs) in South Africa generally believe they are unaffected by the HIV/Aids pandemic. This emerged from a survey of businesses in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal as part of a study on the Economic Impact of HIV and Aids on Households and the Business Sector.

Researcher Sydney Rosen said the effects of HIV and Aids ranked ninth out of 10 in terms of importance for business owners, with productivity and the demand for their product being their two main sources of worry.

Rosen said these business owners had no idea how many of their staff were affected by HIV and Aids.

The demand for HIV/Aids services from SMEs was minimal.

Two other researchers, Frikkie Booysen and Servaas van der Berg, found that "the failure to take up (social) grants was sometimes higher among the poorest HIV or Aids-affected households, hinting at social exclusion of the poorest."

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