42 Emergency Vehicles Are Standing Idle in Johannesburg

The year is 2019. The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg proudly stands before 42 brand-new ambulances being handed over to the City’s Emergency Management Services (EMS), a critical function within the Public Safety portfolio. This was the initial batch of a fleet upgrade that would ultimately bring the EMS fleet to 101 vehicles.

The objective was simple: save lives by ensuring faster emergency response times. As always, Herman Mashaba was not afraid to speak plainly. He warned that the Gauteng Provincial Government might seek to take credit for the City’s investment and ultimately attempt to take the service back.

His concern was that transferring a functioning municipal emergency medical service to a provincial administration with a troubling governance record would compromise service delivery and put residents’ lives at risk.

Mashaba drew a parallel with the catastrophic failures that contributed to the Life Esidimeni tragedy, warning against placing a functioning service in the hands of an administration that had repeatedly demonstrated its inability to manage critical public services effectively.

Fast-forward to 2026, and that warning has proved devastatingly accurate. Just the other day, I was interviewed by Nabeelah Shaikh of eNCA at a storage yard where 41 ambulances, worth approximately R16 million, are standing idle. Gathering dust. Not responding to emergencies. Not saving lives.

The word that came to mind was simple – tragic. These are not vehicles that have reached the end of their operational lives. They are not accident-damaged wrecks. They are not beyond repair. They have simply been abandoned. And while these ambulances sit idle, Johannesburg residents continue to wait desperately for emergency medical assistance.

From Mme Joyce in Orange Farm to Ouma Sara in Midrand. From Oom Jantjie in Turffontein to Tannie Elize in Wilropark. Families are being forced to transport critically ill loved ones to emergency rooms in private vehicles. Others are forced to call private ambulances they simply cannot afford. Many have no option but to wait, pray and hope that help arrives before it is too late.

What greater indictment of government incompetence could there be than life-saving ambulances standing still while people wait for emergency medical assistance?

Residents, this is not merely a logistical failure. It is a moral failure. Every ambulance gathering dust at the Florida yard represents taxpayers’ money being wasted. Every vehicle sitting idle represents thousands of emergency calls that could potentially have been answered. Every unnecessary delay increases the risk that a medical emergency becomes a fatality.

And yet, instead of accountability, we are provided excuses. Just the other day, during a news bulletin, a spokesperson for the provincial government stated that the province had never asked the City to upgrade the fleet in 2019. He then claimed that the province took back the medical service because “the municipality did not have the tools and skills needed to operate the fleet.”

One has to ask: Does the provincial government spokesperson understand the service he speaks on behalf of?

The City of Johannesburg operates a medical academy that provides training and certification in emergency medical services. So what exactly does the province mean when it says the municipality did not have the “tools and skills” to operate the fleet? If the City had the infrastructure, personnel, training capacity and a functioning EMS operation, why was the service taken away in the first place?

And more importantly, if the province took responsibility for these ambulances, who is accountable for 41 life-saving vehicles now sitting idle?

This cannot simply be explained away with bureaucratic technicalities. We have seen this movie before. This is not the first time Herman Mashaba issued a warning that was ignored.

During his tenure as Mayor of Johannesburg, Mashaba repeatedly raised the alarm about the growing threat posed by illegal mining syndicates operating across the city. He warned about the dangerous consequences of illegal mining taking place in close proximity to critical infrastructure, including Sasol and Transnet fuel lines.

The warnings were there. The risks were known. And then came the consequences. The Sunday Times captured the danger in a headline that remains chillingly relevant: “Digging to Disaster: How illegal mining is putting Joburg at risk.” The pattern is detectable.

Mashaba warned. The ANC ignored the warnings. The crisis unfolded.

Whether it is illegal mining threatening critical infrastructure or the deterioration of emergency medical services, the story remains the same: warnings are ignored, risks are allowed to grow, and government only reacts once the damage has already been done. That is not good governance. That is governance without accountability.

Where is the consequence management? When a private business loses millions of rands, executives can lose their jobs. When ordinary, hard-working South Africans fail to pay their taxes, SARS comes knocking. But when government allows millions of rands worth of public assets to sit unused while emergency services deteriorate, who is held responsible and answers to residents?

The absence of accountability has become one of the defining characteristics of the ANC’s governance. Public assets are neglected. Services decline. Money is wasted. Warnings are ignored. And ordinary residents pay the price.

Johannesburg deserves better. When ActionSA takes over the Public Safety portfolio and leads the government of the City of Johannesburg, restoring an effective emergency medical service will be an immediate priority.

I will ensure that we get these ambulances back into service. Every ambulance must be licensed, operational, properly equipped and maintained. We will rebuild Johannesburg EMS into a professional and responsive emergency service that residents deserve.

Herman Mashaba’s warning in 2019 was not theatrics. Today, Johannesburg is paying the price. The question we must now ask is not simply why 41 ambulances are standing idle. The question is at what point do we arrest this ongoing neglect that comes at the cost of lives being lost?

ActionSA Electoral Growth: Expanded quickly into KZN and the Western Cape.