The South Africa National Department of Health announced on Sunday that it was closely monitoring the Covid-19 situation in China and other parts of the world.
On Sunday, the department said, “there is no need for the public to panic”.
The assurance came in the wake of more countries imposing travel restrictions on people coming from China.
“We urge people to vaccinate and get booster shots to enhance their immunity against variants and sub-variants of the pandemic,” said Foster Mohale, spokesperson for the National Health Department.
Mohale said the department will issue an alert if South Africa needs to take extra precautions.
While Italy, the U.S., and other countries have imposed travel restrictions on travellers from China, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), one of the EU’s health agencies, said Thursday that systematic screening of travellers was currently “unjustified”.
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It cited the level of immunity in Europe and the presence on the continent of the same variants as in China.
The European branch of the International Airports Council said on Saturday that imposing restrictions was “neither scientifically justified nor risk-based”.
The EU meets Wednesday to discuss the matter before announcing a unified response to rising Covid-19 infections in China and elsewhere.
In a separate, but positive development, South Africa and China commemorate 25 years of diplomatic relations.
“Today, 1 January 2023, marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Africa and the People’s Republic of China, which came into effect from 1 January 1998,” said the SA Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).
Throughout the past 25 years, the two countries have deepened their wide-ranging bilateral relations which have since been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and underpinned by a new 10-Year Strategic Programmes of Cooperation (2020-2029).
China-SA Relations
Regular interaction between South Africa and China takes place at various official levels and includes exchanges of State Visits and high-level engagements; co-operation across different government ministries; Parliament; business entities; and people-to-people connections.
“These engagements are a testimony to the great importance attached by both sides to the historic political and economic ties. South Africa and China enjoy vibrant economic relations and China is by far South Africa’s largest global trading partner,” said the department.
“The bilateral trade grew exponentially over the years, increasing from less than R1 billion in 1998 to the current levels of R544 billion in 2021, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
“South Africa is also China’s number one trading partner in Africa.”
DIRCO
DIRCO said more importantly, the mutually beneficial relationship supports South Africa’s foreign policy objectives towards the achievement of its domestic development imperatives, as well as promotes the broader socio-economic development goals of the African continent.
“The collaboration goes beyond bilateral relations to also include regional and multilateral cooperation to advance the agenda of the Global South,” said DIRCO.
“This year, South Africa will be hosting the 15th BRICS Summit as the Chair, having taken over from China as Chair during 2022.”
DIRCO said SA and China remain committed to close co-operation and partnership within the context of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC), which drives joint continental development initiatives.
“As part of the 25th anniversary of bilateral relations, Minister [Naledi] Pandor and the Foreign Minister of China have exchanged letters of congratulations to reaffirm the well-established relations,” said DIRCO.
“The two sides are keen to explore further areas of collaboration for the mutual benefit, economic growth, and prosperity of their respective nations.
“Furthermore, the two governments have planned several activities that will take place throughout the year in both South Africa and China, to celebrate this milestone.”
