SAHRC must intervene in dysfunctional ambulance services in the Northern Cape

Our complaint follows on delays in ambulance services in the Namakwa district, which seems to have contributed to the untimely and perhaps preventable death of a fourteen year old diabetic from Kharkhams. The Joe Slovo Community Health Centre in Garies did not have a doctor available to provide proper medical care to the child, who needed to be taken to Springbok. But there were delays in securing an ambulance to transport the child to Springbok for medical care, because the only ambulance in the Kamiesberg municipality has a broken door and cannot be used.

For the want of an ambulance door, a bereaved family must now bury their beloved child.

I have consistently raised failures in ambulance services in engagements with the Northern Cape Department of Health and the Member of the Executive Council for Health, Maruping Lekwene. In the September debate on the budget of the Northern Cape Department of Health, Lekwene admitted that lives were lost due to dysfunctional ambulance services throughout the province. How many more lives will be lost before the provincial government offers communities something more than feeble apologies?

In light of Lekwene’s admission, we expect that any recommendations from the SAHRC will be implemented fully and that reasonable measures will be taken to prevent future losses of life.