About 200 doctors from Cuba have arrived in South Africa to help the country in the fight against coronavirus.
The group landed on a chartered SAA flight, Airbus A340 holding a Cuban flag, at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria just after midnight.
They are among 1,200 healthcare workers sent to battle Covid-19 in 22 countries that have requested help from the communist state.
Cuba boasts a strong health care system and many students from Africa study medicine in Cuba.
The number of South African coronavirus confirmed cases in South Africa has risen to 4,564.
The South African government has thanked the Cuban doctors with Defense Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Ngakula saying the relationship between Cuba and South Africa would continue.
“You’re not the first brigade and you will not be the last one. Thank you, thank you.”
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosana Dlamini-Zuma thanked the doctors in the spirit of historic political figures.
“In the spirit of Fidel [Castro], OR [Tambo] and in the spirit of [Nelson] Mandela – we thank you very much.”
