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HomeWeekly RoundupOperating licence dispute again brings Tshwane emergency services to a halt

Operating licence dispute again brings Tshwane emergency services to a halt

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency medical services provided by the City of Tshwane have once again been brought to a standstill, amid a long-standing dispute with the provincial government over the licence that allows it to operate. BusinessLIVE reports that the city’s ambulances and staff have again been grounded, and only the metro’s emergency medical services (EMS) are allowed to take calls, which have to be diverted to the provincial EMS.

This is despite Karen Meyer, Tshwane member of the mayoral committee for community safety, saying that the city’s emergency services are urgently needed. It is also funded by the metro.

In a letter sent to all emergency services personnel in the city on Friday, acting chief of emergency Moshema Mosia wrote that operations must be stopped immediately as the city was operating without a licence.

BusinessLIVE reports that the dispute around a licence for the city’s emergency services is a long-standing one, and in 2020 it received a temporary licence to continue delivering services side by side with the provincial government amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The temporary licence expired in January.

The city was confident it could continue to work for at least another 12 months after a January meeting between premier David Makhura, Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi, and all the relevant MMCs dealing with emergency services in the various municipalities.

But, BusinessLIVE reports, Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for the Gauteng Health Department, said the meeting of 13 January only resolved that a provincial technical meeting be scheduled to plot a way forward. She said the provincial health technical meeting was held on the 19 January and it was agreed that in the absence of any formal approval from the Gauteng provincial executive council, the City of Tshwane EMS may apply for an operating licence.

Meyer said decisions were not taken by officials, but by politicians.

 

[link url="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2021-03-09-tshwane-ambulances-halted-again-as-licence-dispute-rears-up/?"]Full BusinessLIVE report (Restricted access)[/link]

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