Over R3.5 Million worth of Ambulances abandoned as response times escalate

by Cllr Stefanie Ueckermann — DA Spokesperson for Health and Social Development in Ekurhuleni

Date: 09 October 2023

Release: Immediate

Type: Media statement

Communities of Ekurhuleni suffer due to slow emergency response times as ambulances to the value of over R3.5 million sit idle.

In questions posed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) to the so-called ‘People’s Coalition Government’ led by the EFF, it was indicated that there are 10 ambulances with a market value of R370 900 each, amounting to a massive R3 709 000 worth of life-saving assets laying idle and currently not utilised.

This information was shared in a letter from GPG (health). Worryingly, emergency ambulances respond to only 56% of calls for Priority 1 patients within 30 minutes in Gauteng’s urban areas, which means lives are lost that could have been saved.

What’s more concerning is the fact that while these ambulances are not in operation, the EFF-led City of Ekurhuleni has the worst response rate in Gauteng, where only 46% of life-threatening emergency calls are responded to within 30 minutes, according to the Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in a written response to the DA in the Gauteng Legislature.

The international standard is 80% of Priority 1 calls within 15 minutes, but the Gauteng Health Department no longer measures this high standard.

This can’t be the legacy we leave behind, we need to do better. The DA has been calling on the Gauteng Province to devolve the ambulance services back to Ekurhuleni to better serve communities. We will continue to fight for this!

Cllr Stefanie Ueckermann

DA Spokesperson for Health and Social Development in Ekurhuleni

076 541 9717