Despite the chronic shortage of emergency services vehicles countrywide, 41 ambulances bought by the City of Johannesburg – for a total of R16m – have been sitting idle for six years, because of red tape and bureaucracy, reports The Citizen.
The vehicles were allegedly bought in 2019 independently without provincial involvement, and have never been deployed because the necessary approval to use them had never been given, according to the provincial government. It said it had absolutely no role in procuring or funding them.
The DA said while the public faces long waits for emergency services, the vehicles have been standing unused. It is calling for an independent audit to establish the condition and value of the ambulances, blaming the scandal on poor planning, and saying the unused vehicles are wasting valuable public money.
Provincial government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the Gauteng Department of Health began taking over ambulance services from municipalities in 2009, with the phased provincialisation process finally being completed in 2020.
“This was necessary to comply with the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), which delegates healthcare as a joint responsibility between national and provincial governments,” he said.
National legislation also placed EMS squarely under provincial control, and Mhlanga added that the process was designed to bring every ambulance in line with national requirements for vehicles, equipment, staffing and licensing under the 2017 EMS Regulations.
The province received an application from the City of Johannesburg in July this year for an EMS operating licence covering six stations – but no decision had yet been made.
The application is “currently under review”, he said, and officials would now turn their attention to the idle vehicles themselves, with one option being that they join the provincial fleet.
National Department of Health spokesperson Steve Mabona told eNCA the province was in the process of provincialising the ambulances – which are gathering dust at the Florida Park fire station – meaning it would take over responsibility for them from municipalities.
eNCA article – 41 City of Joburg ambulances sit idle six years after being bought (Open access)
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