A legal showdown between KwaZulu-Natal Transport and Human Settlements MEC Siboniso Duma and ALS Paramedics is expected to take place in the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) in May, after the private ambulance company made a legal bid last week to gag Duma from making what it said were defamatory comments about it.
But IOL reports that the court failed to make a final finding in the urgent application, with Judge Pieter Bezuidenhout saying that on the papers before him, he could not issue the gagging order ALS Paramedics sought.
However, the court found Duma’s remarks – including claims that ALS Paramedics bullied people at accident scenes, misreported casualty numbers, and denied care to uninsured patients – to be potentially defamatory, and granted both parties the opportunity to supplement their court papers if they so wished.
The judge ordered that on 4 May, Duma should show cause why he should not be interdicted from making comments deemed by ALS Paramedics to be defamatory.
The controversy was sparked by Duma’s recent comments at the scene of a fatal R102 accident, in which at least 11 people died.
News24 reports that ALS Paramedics, a popular paramedic service in the province, had responded swiftly to the crash scene, arriving at 8.30am.
When Duma appeared three hours later – at 11am – he encountered a scene where casualty numbers were disputed.
ALS Paramedics staff had been told that one person had died at Albert Luthuli Hospital, which is what they told Duma. Later, however, it was clarified that there had been a misunderstanding – that it was a patient en-route to Albert Luthuli Hospital who had died, not someone already there.
ALS Paramedics immediately updated Duma, confirming that the total number of deaths was 11, not 12. This confusion over casualty numbers would later fuel the MEC’s public criticism, and during a press conference, he launched a blistering attack on ALS Paramedics.
He said ALS ambulances “bulldozed” accident scenes, behaving insensitively and refusing to assist patients without medical aid, even in life-threatening circumstances.
ALS Paramedics subsequently formally demanded a public retraction and apology through its lawyers, but no apology had been received, so the company turned to court.
It was submitted that Duma made the derogatory statements twice on the same day, 29 January, and that he might repeat them if he were not issued with an interdict.
The applicant said apart from being defamatory, the words also implied that ALS Paramedics operates “in a manner that is not befitting of human dignity”. It added that it would suffer irreparable harm if an interdict were not granted.
It was submitted on behalf of Duma that in actual fact the relief which was sought was final relief and that this was not appropriate under the circumstances. His legal team argued that he did not mislead the public, that what he had said was in the public interest – and correct.
The judge called on Duma to show cause, if any, why he should not be interdicted and restrained from making written or verbal “defamatory” statements concerning the applicant.
These include by stating or implying the SAPS and Metro Police were complaining about the ambulance service, that the company “misreports” the numbers of injured and deceased persons affected by vehicle collisions, and that it “fails to provide services to members of the public without medical aid”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
KZN MEC stands by claims about private paramedics
Lawsuit threat after KZN MEC slams private paramedics