EMS Vehicle Hijacked

Dear Editor

The hijacking of an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicle in Mthatha on Saturday is cause for grave concern as this act of criminality endangers the lives of our most vulnerable citizens – those whose health is severely compromised.

Fortunately, no patients were in the vehicle at the time.

The vehicle was on its way to collect dialysis patients when the hijacking occurred. Dialysis patients are usually patients with severe renal failure, and they depend on dialysis to survive. The vast majority of these patients also depend upon the EMS Patient Transfer Vehicles (PTVs) to transport them to and from their treatment.

This is not “an unfortunate incident,” as was quoted by Spokesperson Mkululi Ndamase. This was a premeditated and serious crime against the state, and SAPS should deal with it as such.

I have written to the MEC for Health, Ntandokazi Capa, to request that she engage with the MEC for Community Services, Xolile Nqatha, to ensure that state assets, particularly those that are geared to save lives, receive greater protection from the state.

The Department of Health in the Eastern Cape already suffers from a critical shortage of EMS vehicles, with only approximately 20% of the required number of EMS vehicles on our roads at any given time. To lose another vehicle to criminals is simply unacceptable.

It cannot be that EMS staff become too afraid to go about their life-saving business for fear of being hijacked or robbed. They are too often the final hope for critically ill patients, whose very lives depend on whether an ambulance or patient transfer vehicle is able to transport them to the healthcare services that they desperately require.

The DA will continue to fight for the rights of our EMS workers to be able to conduct their business without fear of being robbed, hijacked or compromised in any way.

Regards

Jane Cowley MPL
DA Shadow MEC for Health