The South African Emergency Personnel Union (SAEPU) has said, in a statement, that it strongly condemns the attitude of protesters who hurled petrol bomb at the ambulance in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape.
The SAEPU said a crew from Nelson Mandela Bay were dispatched to Booysen’s Park informal settlement. On their way they met community members who were protesting. The protesters started throwing stones at the ambulance while the other group that was hiding at the bushes hurled a petrol bomb at the ambulance.
The statement says they called for help but unfortunately three ambulances who came to the rescue were also stoned and damaged.
Also, according to a report in The Times, three vehicles, including a state ambulance, have been torched and another stoned by protesters in Port Elizabeth's northern areas in the past 24 hours.
The protests are linked to ongoing disputes regarding service delivery in the area.
Jane Cowley, Eastern Cape shadow MEC of Health writes:
In a time when our provincial (Eastern Cape) Health Department is trying to deal with severe budget constraints and crippling staff shortages, medical facilities and ambulances, this act of arson by a disgruntled community is disgraceful and must be dealt with harshly.
Sadly, it is these very community members that will have to live with the consequences of such hooliganism, as there is now even less resources available to provide them with the necessary services.
According to national norms and standards, there should be one ambulance per 10 000 people in the province. This would equate to about 600 ambulances in the Eastern Cape. Sadly, due to budget and other constraints, the province currently has less than 300 functional ambulances to serve its citizens.
What will happen is that patients will now experience even longer turnaround times, as emergency personnel stretch themselves and their resources even further. Not to mention the negative impact this has on staff morale, with paramedics hesitant to enter these no-go areas.
I have written to the MEC for Safety and Security, Weziwe Gxothiwe–Tikana, to urge her to undertake a full investigation into this criminal act and bring these criminals to book.
I will also submit questions to the MEC for Health, Sindiswa Gomba, to request an update on the status of our ambulances in the province, in order to find a way forward that will bring relief to emergency services and the patients they serve.
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/saepu-condemns-protesters-who-hurled-petrol-bomb-at-the-ambulance-2020-02-20"]Statement on the Polity site[/link]
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-02-20-ambulance-among-three-vehicles-torched-in-24-hours-of-pe-protests/"]Full report in The Times[/link]