KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Siboniso Duma has claimed private ambulance service ALS Paramedics had left a patient, without medical aid, stranded on the side of the road at an accident scene – and has also accused the company's director of perjury, reports News24.
In the KZN High Court last week, the MEC’s legal team filed a supplementary affidavit presenting new evidence from two government officials alleging discriminatory conduct by ALS Paramedics at an accident on 6 October 2025.
In his papers, Duma said the officials, Asheeth Sadapal and NM Dlamini, had revealed that a patient had reported being loaded into an ALS ambulance but when they found he was not on medical aid and could not pay cash, he was offloaded and left on the roadside.
The allegation forms part of Duma’s defence against ALS Paramedics’ defamation lawsuit, which stems from his controversial statements at a 29 January press conference after a deadly 11-person crash and his accusations that ALS was “bulldozing” accident scenes, misreporting casualty numbers, and refusing to treat uninsured patients.
Urgent legal action was immediately launched by ALS, seeking an interim interdict to stop what it called defamatory statements.
Judge Pieter Bezuidenhout, however, refused the bid for immediate relief in February, though he acknowledged the statements could be potentially defamatory. Instead, he granted a rule nisi – a provisional court order – and scheduled a hearing for 4 May where Duma must justify why a permanent interdict should not be granted against him.
In his affidavit last week, the MEC said it was “insensitive … to leave an injured person on the roadside simply because that patient is not on medical aid or cannot pay cash”, and accused ALS director Garrith Jamieson of committing perjury in his court papers.
“Jamieson lied under oath …in the founding affidavit, that he had corrected, in my presence, the misreporting of the deceased persons.”
These allegations form part of Duma’s response to ALS’ 10 March supplementary papers, which claimed a patient refused their services on 25 February due to the ongoing controversy.
Jamieson had warned that the extent of the damage suffered by ALS because of the MEC’s statements would continue for as long as he was not interdicted.
However, Duma denied that ALS was experiencing widespread patient rejection, arguing the company had attended numerous accidents since 29 January without incident. He also distanced himself from the department’s controversial 23 February Facebook post, reacting to a 20 February judgment.
The post declared: “By and large, the judgment empowers MEC Duma, as the executive authority responsible for road safety, to continue to demonstrate accountability and transparency.”
ALS claimed the post showed Duma’s intention to continue defaming the company.
Duma denied authoring the statement.
ALS Paramedics will file replying papers on 10 April before the final May showdown.
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MEC and paramedics clash looms in defamation case
Lawsuit threat after KZN MEC slams private paramedics