An incident that took place on Sunday evening in Belfast/Emakhazeni, during which emergency ambulance personnel where lured into an ambush and robbed, is alarming seeing as there is already a critical shortage of ambulances and trained emergency services personnel in Mpumalanga.
The ambulance personnel were responding to a maternity emergency call from a remote house in the Emakhazeni Local Municipality (Emakhazeni/Belfast, Dullstroom, Entokozweni/Machadodorp, Emgwenya/Waterval Boven) when they were overpowered and robbed.
The ambulance has been stripped of its engine and other parts.
The FF Plus has sent urgent questions to the provincial MEC for Health, Ms Sasekani Manzini, to gain some more clarity on the safety of emergency services personnel.
The province already has a serious shortage of trained emergency services personnel and 74% of the current paramedics have only completed a basic first-aid course of four weeks.
The Mpumalanga College for Emergency Care has no budget and no premises. The province simply cannot afford to lose more paramedics due to crime.
The FF Plus expressed its concern about the serious shortage of ambulances in the province several months ago already.
In 2020, the number of available ambulances dropped significantly by 81%, from 179 to just 33.
Last year, the Department procured 67 new ambulances, but at present the province still only has 55 working ambulances.
That is not even close to the number of 450, which the Department says the province needs. People die while waiting for an ambulance.
It is unacceptable seeing as 92% of all Mpumalanga residents rely on state ambulances. Only 8% of the province's residents have medical aids.
The FF Plus demands that Ms Manzini must urgently take action to address the shortage of ambulances and paramedics in the province, and to ensure the safety of emergency services personnel.
