Medical staff members inquire about a patient at a quarantine and isolation center in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 3, 2020.Photo:Xinhua

South Africa's COVID-19 cases have exceeded the half-a-million mark to reach 503,290, South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced Saturday.

A total of 10,107 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, Mkhize said in his daily update.

Of the 503,290 cases, 342,461 people have already recovered and 152,676 cases are currently active.

Gauteng, the smallest but most populous province, remained the epicenter of the pandemic with 178,119 cases, said Mkhize.

The Western Cape came second with 96,189 cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 79,607 and the Eastern Cape with 78,782.

The country's death toll rose to 8,153 and 3,001,985 tests have been conducted, the minister said.

South Africa has maintained a relatively low fatality rate at 1.6 percent.

"For this, we are grateful to the work of our health professionals and the innovative treatments they have pioneered," said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa following the daily update.

After a rapid rise in infections over the past two months, the daily increase appears to be stabilizing, particularly in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape, Ramaphosa said.

While it may be too soon to draw firm conclusions, this suggests that the prevention measures that South Africans have implemented are having an effect, he said.

"While there are promising signs, now it is not the time to let down our guard. We have to continue to work together to reduce the number of new infections," said Ramaphosa.