The number of active cases stood at 700 on Friday, according to the latest figures from the Minerals Council South Africa.

This was up from 590 active cases three days earlier, and less than 400 about a month ago.

The number of active cases had surged to more than 2,000 in mid-January as a second wave of the pandemic swept through South Africa.

The council said on Friday the industry now employed more than 506,000 people, with a total of 36,838 positive cases recorded.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the industry is now 427.

The council also started reporting vaccination numbers this month.

Friday's figures showed the number of vaccinated employees and contractors in the industry had reached 2,057.

The number of vaccinated community members had increased from 15 on June 7 to 880.

Mining companies have been encouraging employees to get vaccinated, as has the National Union of Mineworkers - with the proviso workers should not be in danger of losing their jobs if they did not consent to getting the jab.

South Africa has recorded more than 1.8 million COVID-19 cases and 58,702 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University today.