Africa News
Report: West Africans fleeing Ebola, to SA─── 09:47 Sun, 12 Oct 2014
Johannesburg - As the world panics over the Ebola outbreak, West Africans are reportedly fleeing their countries in a bid to outrun the virus - some even headed overland for South Africa.
According to the Sunday Independent, this could place South Africa at considerable risk. Johannesburg-based members of the immigrant communities from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, told the newspaper that there is a considerable number of people attempting to reach SA, most trying to reach it overland - a 5 000km trek.
The newspaper reports that it would just take one carrier to change the situation in SA - particularly in a community that is largely housed in the densely populated city centre of Johannesburg - an ideal breeding ground for a communicable virus such as Ebola.
However, Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba and Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi have stated that although caution needs to be exercised, it cannot be done at the expense of fuelling xenophobia.
Motsoaledi told the newspaper that he feels SA is too far away for most people to reach by land and if they were carrying the disease, the chances are they would not make it to the border alive.
A ministerial advisory committee on Ebola has meanwhile been appointed comprising private healthcare professionals. Cabinet has also approved a budget of R32.5m to support Ebola preparedness and response activities.
More than 4 000 people have died of the disease since the start of the outbreak, the worst to date.
Sunday Independent
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