Ambulance services in the Alfred Nzo District are facing a severe crisis, with only 12 ambulances available to serve communities across the district, raising concerns about the ability to respond to emergencies.
The alarming situation was revealed by ambulance director Lungile Gcolothela during an interview with The Informer on Thursday, following questions from the publication about an accident that occurred in Matatiele on Monday.
The accident, which happened along Matatiele’s main street, involved a Renault Kwid and a Volkswagen Polo. The Kwid was carrying four occupants, including a one-year-old baby. Fortunately, none of the occupants sustained serious injuries.
However, an injured woman had to wait for approximately two hours for an ambulance before she was eventually transported to hospital in a private vehicle.
Repeated calls to the ambulance centre proved unsuccessful, with operators explaining that ambulances had been dispatched to transport patients to Mthatha hospitals.
Speaking to The Informer, Gcolothela painted a grim picture of the district’s ambulance services, warning that the situation had reached a point where there might be no ambulances available to respond if another serious accident occurred.
“On the day of the interview, we were operating with only 12 ambulances, and all of them had taken patients for referrals to Mthatha. If an accident can happen right now in the area, I won’t have ambulances to help the injured to hospital,” said Gcolothela.
He blamed hospital management for what he described as the inefficient use of the available ambulance fleet, arguing that the practice was leaving communities without emergency medical assistance.
According to Gcolothela, hospitals sometimes require ambulances to transport patients in separate trips instead of consolidating referrals and transporting multiple patients in a single trip where appropriate.
“We have been trying to address this, but clearly there is no will on the side of the management,” he said.
The situation is further worsened by the number of ambulances that are currently at garages awaiting repairs. Gcolothela said it was unclear when some of the vehicles would return to service.
He added that the district would be better equipped to meet the needs of its communities if it had 48 ambulances. He indicated that an improvement in the fleet was expected by March next year.
For residents of Matatiele, the shortage of ambulances is not a new problem. Communities have repeatedly experienced delays in accessing emergency medical services, forcing people to rely on private vehicles to get injured patients to hospital.
In June this year, three people were injured in an accident on the R56 road towards Matatiele. With no ambulance available at the scene, the injured were transported to hospital in private vehicles.
In another incident, an elderly woman from Area C had to be transported to hospital in the back of a bakkie while it was raining, highlighting the desperate measures residents sometimes have to take when emergency medical assistance is unavailable.
Gcolothela said the district was working with private ambulance service providers, including Laphuma and other operators in Matatiele, to help address the shortage.
He explained that these private providers were not paid directly for their services, as they would submit claims to the Road Accident Fund where applicable.
The crisis has also been noted by local breakdown operators, who frequently witness the consequences of delayed emergency medical assistance.
One breakdown driver said the lack of ambulances was a daily occurrence and described the situation as painful to witness.
With residents continuing to face long waits for emergency assistance, concerns are mounting over the district’s ability to respond effectively to road accidents and other medical emergencies.
For communities in Matatiele and the wider Alfred Nzo District, the shortage of operational ambulances has become a serious public safety concern, with lives potentially at risk when emergency services cannot respond in time.
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