Striking a congratulatory tone in a video posted on his Twitter account on Saturday, Mkhize lauded the country's healthcare workers for their efforts in helping the country through the worst of the pandemic.

South Africa has now dropped to 10th place on Johns Hopkins University's tally of the countries with the highest number of known infections.

Over 668,000 infections were confirmed in the country with more than 16,000 lives lost.

With the country enjoying the first weekend under lockdown level 1 regulations, the minister said people must not let their guard down.

“The pandemic is still on and the numbers are still high, but I think we’re over the surge and we must look back and say thanks to South Africans. We’ve had good leadership from the president and everyone rallied to put the country first.”

Eyewitness News