The mayor of South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, has apologised for suggesting that a meat trader pushing cows heads in a shopping trolley was responsible for spreading diseases, such as Ebola.

There was a backlash on social media to Herman Mashaba’s Monday' tweet.

He was accused of being insensitive to the struggles faced by informal traders.

In response to a suggestion that the trader be helped, he tweeted: “We are going to sit back and allow people like you to bring us Ebola in the name of small business.Health of our people first. Our health facilities are already stretched to the limit.”

In his apology, which he also tweeted, the mayor said that in future he would organise for health inspectors to work with traders so they could understand safety standards and why they were important.

He added: “For the insensitivity of my remarks about Ebola, I apologise unreservedly to those who my remarks have offended."

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says meat from cow heads is enjoyed in many parts of South Africa.