A family from Tsholomnqa village in East London is blaming the Eastern Cape Department of Health’s emergency services for the death of an elder, after an ambulance arrived several hours too late.
The deceased, Mncekeleli Lolwana, 77, was found by his daughter with several stab wounds at about 5 am on Sunday.
“He called out my name, saying ‘I am dying, please help’,” she said.
“I called community members to help.”
She said they took turns calling the ambulance until that afternoon.
“While we were waiting for hours for them to arrive, we were talking to my father to keep him awake,” she said.
But the ambulance only arrived at about 4 pm, she claimed — two hours after he had succumbed to his injuries.
Health Department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said he understood the grief the family faced as a result of the crime affecting their community.
However, Kupelo said the department would not take responsibility until the autopsy.
“The allegations and conclusions by the family will have to be scientifically proven once an autopsy has been concluded,” he said.
Kupelo said departmental records showed that paramedics arrived at Mazikanye in Tsholomnqa at 2.05 pm on Sunday afternoon.
He said the department always tried to provide prompt emergency services to communities with targeted response times of 30 minutes in urban areas and 45 minutes in rural areas.
Pictured above: An ambulance
Image source: Supplied
