South Africa placed tuberculosis in the spotlight on Thursday, 26 March 2026, with a record attempt deep underground at Harmony Gold’s Mponeng mine in Carletonville. The Department of Health said the event would test ultra-portable chest X-ray technology as part of a wider push to improve TB screening and diagnosis.

The department, working with Harmony Gold, the Minerals Council South Africa and the Stop TB Partnership, described the exercise as an effort to speed up case finding in a high-risk setting. Officials also framed it as part of the country’s drive to end TB as a public health threat by 2035.

TB screening at Mponeng mine targets a high-risk setting

TB screening at Mponeng mine was designed to bring diagnostic technology closer to workers in one of the most demanding mining environments in the world. Harmony says Mponeng is the world’s deepest mine, reaching 3,891 metres below datum, which gives the event both logistical and symbolic weight.

The Health Department said the underground exercise would use ultra-portable X-ray equipment to screen workers for signs of tuberculosis. In its advisory, the department said the team would “attempt to achieve the Guinness World Records entry” during the screening programme, but no public confirmation of a successful record had been published in the material reviewed.

Portable X-ray is part of a broader TB diagnosis push

The significance of TB screening at Mponeng mine goes beyond the record attempt. WHO says tuberculosis remained one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases in 2024, with an estimated 10.7 million people falling ill, while newer diagnostic tools such as AI-supported chest X-ray are helping health systems detect cases earlier.

South Africa has also been pushing harder on screening. Government planning documents for the End TB campaign say the country aims to expand testing at scale and improve diagnosis as part of its 2035 target. In that context, portable imaging offers a practical way to reach workers who may not be diagnosed through symptom checks alone.

Officials use the event to spotlight TB prevention

The event brought together Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Stop TB Partnership chief executive Dr Lucica Ditiu and executives from Harmony Gold and the Minerals Council South Africa, according to the department’s advisory. The same advisory said the screening also aligned with occupational health requirements for mine workers, especially those exposed to silica dust.

The comparable Guinness benchmark was set in Nepal in April 2022, when Michael Cairnie operated an X-ray machine at 5,364 metres above sea level. That record gave South Africa a clear reference point, but the stronger public health message on Thursday was that faster TB screening remains urgent.