Johannesburg Mayor Geoff Makhubo has died of complications after contracting COVID-19.

The provincial government announced this on Friday as South Africa’s economic hub is undergoing a severe third wave of the pandemic.

Mr Makhubo had recently been transferred to hospital after falling ill.

South Africa, a country of almost 60 million, is increasingly in the grip of the highly contagious Delta variant of the Coronavirus.

The urban agglomeration around the capital Pretoria and Johannesburg is particularly hard hit, with almost two thirds of the country’s new infections being registered there.

The regional health infrastructure is at capacity.

South Africa is the continent’s worst-hit country in terms of absolute numbers, with 2.1 million Coronavirus cases documented there.

Close to 63,500 people have died as a consequence of the disease.

Africa’s second largest economy was already in difficulty before the pandemic hit. 

(dpa/NAN)