Coronavirus: Health minister unable to reveal cost of repatriation mission
13 March 2020
The government is unable to reveal how much it will cost taxpayers to house more than 120 South African citizens, who are being repatriated from Wuhan in China, at a quarantine site in Limpopo.
Speaking at an inter-ministerial briefing at the site - Protea Hotel's The Ranch Resort - on Thursday night, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the amount would only be known once the repatriation mission concluded.
"We will not be able to give you that until we [are] done. Then we give you the statements," the minister said.
However, he added that if it meant spending money to save South Africans, the country was ready to assist.