South Africa has registered more than 24,000 cases of Covid-19, its highest tally of new infections since the pandemic began, as a third wave of the virus spread through a population in which just five per cent have been vaccinated.

The surge in cases in Africa's most industrialised nation has overwhelmed hospitals, especially in the main city of Johannesburg, and left overworked healthcare personnel struggling to find enough beds for critically ill patients, according to a Reuters report.

South Africa has recorded just over two million cases and more than 60,000 deaths during the pandemic, according to government data, while 3.3m people have been vaccinated out of a population of just under 60m.