because it was unexpected. they were unprepared and people did panic. you can see some of the images we are receiving now and we mentioned that an air plane with aid has arrived and landed at the airport which was covered, the runway was covered in ash and there was a huge job to clear the runway so that aircraft could land. a real shame we could not hear michaela clearly and hear her account but we will try again later. south africa found itself at the forefront of the latest covid wave caused by the 0micron variant late last year, now scientists in the country are confident it is on the way out. but they also accuse the developed world of ignoring its advice that the variant was less harmful than feared, blaming western scepticism. and while the future of the virus still remains uncertain, the signs from south africa are good news for the rest of the world. 0ur africa correspondent, andrew harding sent this report from johannesburg.