Ramaphosa, 69, who is fully vaccinated, felt unwell after leaving a state memorial service for former president FW de Klerk in Cape Town on December 12 as his nation battles an exponential increase in cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

His office said in a statement “President Cyril Ramaphosa has ended a week of self-isolation which followed his positive test for COVID-19 on 12 December 2021,”. The President has returned to duty and will chair the final Cabinet meeting for 2021 on Wednesday, 22 December 2021. President Ramaphosa repeats his call for everyone in the country to stay safe by being vaccinated, wearing face masks, washing or sanitising hands frequently, maintaining a social distance and avoiding gatherings.”

South Africa, where the highly mutated Omicron variant was first detected last month, is Africa’s worst-hit country according to official tallies of virus cases, with more than 3.3 million infections logged and more than 90,000 deaths.

Ramaphosa arrived at the Villa at about 10 am on Wednesday and was received by Buhari. He, thereafter, inspected a guard of honour and was treated to a 21-gun salute.

His visit to the Villa is coming hours after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control confirmed the first three cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Nigeria, saying they are linked to passengers from South Africa.

Officials made face coverings mandatory in May last year at the same time as they gradually eased movement restrictions imposed in March to stem coronavirus infection, AFP reports.

A partial lockdown was reinstated last month as the virus resurged, fuelled by a more transmissible variant.

Officials at the time vowed to be more stringent in enforcing the regulations, which include an alcohol sales ban.

The Police Minister, Bheki Cele, who disclosed this on Wednesday said more than 20,000 people had been arrested or fined since December 29 for breaching the new rules, including 7,455 people detained for not wearing face masks.

More than 830 people have also been arrested for selling, dispensing and transporting alcohol.

“Law enforcement agencies do not enjoy making these arrests,” Cele noted in a statement.

“However, officers… are left with no choice in the interest of saving lives.”

More than 342,000 people have been arrested for contravening coronavirus measures since South Africa declared a national state of disaster in March 2020.

The country is the continent’s worst-affected by the pandemic, with more than 1.2 million coronavirus cases and 34,000 deaths recorded to date.