– DA calls for urgent action on ambulance failures in Phokwane.
– Lives at risk as ambulances remain unavailable, despite new fleet.
– DA demands answers on EMS capacity and response times.
The Democratic Alliance is calling on Northern Cape MEC for Health, Nontobeko Vilakazi, to urgently address ongoing failures in ambulance services in Phokwane Municipality.
The call follows an incident on Sunday night when the family of a young woman who had swallowed poison in Nkandla, Hartswater, repeatedly called for an ambulance, but no emergency vehicle was dispatched.
After EMS failed to arrive, I personally transported the woman to Connie Vorster Hospital on Monday morning. I contacted the EMS dispatch office in Kimberley and was informed that the likelihood of an ambulance being dispatched was slim. Given her deteriorating condition, I was advised to take her to hospital myself.
Tragically, the patient later passed away while being transferred by ambulance from Connie Vorster Hospital to the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Kimberley.
This incident comes just three weeks after Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul launched 30 of the 60 new Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicles acquired for the province. The department said the new fleet would strengthen its capacity to respond to medical emergencies and provide pre-hospital care and transport, with vehicles to be deployed across all five districts.
Yet the situation in Phokwane remains deeply concerning. When the patient reached Connie Vorster Hospital, approximately 2.5 kilometres from her home, there was not a single ambulance available. That emergency services could not reach a patient throughout the night, despite the short distance, raises serious concerns about EMS capacity and response times.
The continued centralisation of emergency calls through the Kimberley call centre may also be contributing to delays in dispatching ambulances.
This case highlights the potentially devastating consequences of delays in emergency medical services. Many residents do not have private transport or other means of reaching healthcare facilities when they are in crisis. They should not be expected to rely on family members or members of the public to provide emergency transport when lives are at risk.
Reliable emergency healthcare is also essential to protect livelihoods. Residents cannot be expected to participate fully in the local economy, go to work and support their families if basic emergency services cannot reach them when they need help.
DA Northern Cape Provincial Leader and Health Spokesperson, Isak Fritz, has written to MEC Vilakazi requesting clarity on where the newly launched ambulances have been deployed, the current availability and condition of ambulances in Phokwane, measures to strengthen EMS capacity in the municipality, and the department’s plans to decentralise EMS call centres.
Residents of Phokwane cannot afford for another avoidable delay to become a tragedy. The department must urgently ensure that ambulances are properly resourced, deployed where they are needed, and able to respond when lives are at risk.