By Anita Dangazele
- The Eastern Cape Department of Health received 26 new ambulances on Friday, adding to 21 delivered about two weeks earlier.
- Sarah Baartman District, where shortages sparked complaints, has already received 14 new ambulances, seven patient transport vehicles and nine response vehicles.
The Eastern Cape Department of Health has received 26 new ambulances, MEC Ntandokazi Capa said, following weeks of public complaints about ambulance shortages in the province.
The handover took place at the Resource Centre in KuGompo City on Friday.
“We are here today to receive these ambulances and all of us know that there’s been a cry in the province over the past two weeks where we’ve been on the news about a shortage of ambulances, especially in the area of Sarah Baartman,” Capa said.
The department received a further 21 ambulances on 21 August.
“This doesn’t say that we’ve solved the problem, but we do believe that it’s going to alleviate a little bit of pressure from our department.”
The department says Sarah Baartman District, where the shortage first sparked public complaints, has already received 14 new ambulances, along with seven patient transport vehicles and nine response vehicles.
Capa said more deliveries are expected in October, February and March, bringing the total to 197 new ambulances by the end of the financial year.
But asked directly whether the department has a timeline to fully resolve the shortage, she was candid that even 197 new ambulances won’t be enough.
“We need to acknowledge that this is a moving target,” she said.
“When you’re buying a new one, the other one is broken, one because of the terrain and the distances that we travel, especially for the rural areas.”
She said Nelson Mandela Bay district doesn’t face the same strain, aside from crime-related challenges, but rural districts battle with poor roads and long distances that wear vehicles down faster.
Capa said a province needs around 600 ambulances to operate at full capacity. The Eastern Cape currently has just over 400, and some of those are grounded for repairs.
“The ones that we are receiving today, it’s not new ambulances, it’s a replacement of the ones that we have,” she said.
“So it means we have not yet reached an ideal target, but I don’t think there’s any other province that has that ideal number as an exact number. But at least if you can have the 400 up and running, then you are in a good position.”
She said she is engaging with the Department of Transport and Provincial Treasury to find a lasting solution, including a full report on which grounded ambulances can still be repaired, so decisions on funding and replacement can be made properly.
She added that the engagement with the Department of Transport will also look at fixing the province’s roads, the same rural terrain she said contributes to ambulances breaking down in the first place.
Pictured above: The Eastern Cape Department of Health has received 26 new ambulances with a promise of 197 by the end of the financial year.
Image source: Supplied
