Havana, April 27 (RHC)-- Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, thanked his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Díaz-Canel, for responding to his call in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and expressed that they will always be grateful to the Cuban people.

This deployment is a demonstration of the strategic partnership and solidarity between South Africa and Cuba and a good example of South-South cooperation, he said on his official Twitter account in reference to the arrival of a Cuban medical brigade to his country.

He stressed that both countries share a special bond with strong historical relations spanning decades.

More than 732 South Africans, many from previously disadvantaged communities, have received years of training in Cuba since the inception of the Nelson Mandela/Fidel Castro medical training program, he said.

Ramaphosa said the theme of this year's Freedom Day is "Solidarity and the Triumph of the Human Spirit in Difficult Times," and it is appropriate that on this day they welcome the Cuban health experts who have come to that country to support their efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

A brigade of 217 Cuban health professionals, members of the Henry Reeve contingent, arrived in South Africa on Sunday to support the fight against the pandemic in that country.  The group is made up of family doctors, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, health technology engineers and biotechnology experts.