Reports from South Africa say that the country will on Monday the 15th of January 2021 reopen 20 of its land border crossings that were shut last month to try to stop the spread of Covid-19 infections.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Saturday.
South Africa has been hit hard by a second wave of the outbreak linked to a new variant of the disease.
It has recorded almost 1.5 million infections and more than 47,000 Covid-related deaths – by far the highest toll in Africa.
On Saturday, the government announced that borders with Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini would be opened.
“The active and orderly management of people through our borders is an important part of the country’s overall risk adjusted approach to control the spread of Covid-19,” said Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.
But the minister warned that all those wanting to cross the borders must produce proof of negative Covid tests taken recently.
Mr Motsoaledi said he would personally visit the four busiest crossings to observe the processing of travellers.
South Africa shut its borders with neighbouring countries on 11 January after the new variant of Covid-19 was detected.
A number of countries have since banned all travel to and from South Africa.