Debate ignites over KwaZulu-Natal EMS following tragic R102 accident

The ongoing fallout from a tragic accident on the R102 near Isipingo, Durban, which claimed the lives of eleven individuals, has ignited a fierce debate about the state of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in KwaZulu-Natal.

Dr Imran Keeka, a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) and their health spokesperson, has attacked KZN's Transport MEC Siboniso Duma's comments about private emergency service providers overlooking casualties without medical aid cover at accident scenes, during a recent media interview.

Duma claimed that private ambulance services only attend to patients with medical aid, suggesting that ordinary members of the public would have to rely solely on state ambulances.

According to Keeka, this reflected a significant misunderstanding of the realities of EMS in the province.

“What is conspicuously absent from this narrative, is that MEC Duma could well have arrived on the scene before state ambulances.”

Keeka said that provincial emergency medical services often lagged considerably behind private providers when responding to emergencies.

“In many rural areas, response times stretch from seven to ten hours, if they arrive at all.”

Keeka said Duma's remarks were untrue, as private Ems were helping everyone upon arriving on the scene.

He pointed out that when private providers step in to transport patients whether or not they have medical aid, this assistance should be regarded as a positive act, especially given the unreliable state of KZN’s EMS.

Responding to the DA's criticism, departmental spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya stood by MEC Duma, asserting that the minister would not retract his statements.

Sibiya expressed disappointment with what he described as the DA's “unbelievable insensitivity and disrespect to the deceased,” and urged that the party's focus should remain on supporting the families of the victims rather than engaging in what he deemed as attention seeking behaviour.

“By and large, the DA is showing the most unbelievable insensitivity and disrespect to the deceased,” Sibiya articulated.

“They do that during the period in which the people of KwaZulu-Natal are in mourning.”

He concluded that the families left behind should be the priority, and called for compassion over political point-scoring.

DAILY NEWS