EMS paramedics were attacked in the Slangspruit
area in Pietermaritzburg during the weekend.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’
Union in KZN, released a statement on Sunday
criticising the attacks against paramedics in the
province.
According to Nehawu, the EMS paramedics were
responding to a maternity call in Slangspruit on
Saturday night at around 11 pm when they were
attacked by four men who approached them and tried
to force their way into the ambulance.
Nehawu spokesperson Mazwi Ngubane said one of the
attackers allegedly climbed onto the roof of the
vehicle and smashed the windscreen while the others
were banging on the doors and insulting the
paramedics.
He said they eventually managed to drive away with
one men hanging onto the windscreen wipers.
The ambulance stopped at a robot after about two
kilometres and the man tried to escape but other
motorists noticed and helped to catch the man.
Ngubane said the union was highly disturbed by the
escalating rate of attacks against paramedics in
Kwazulu-natal.
He said it was also disturbing that South African Police
Services took more than two hours to respond and
added that they were going to report the failure to the
Community Safety and Liaison MEC, Mxolisi Kaunda.
Nehawu has since instructed EMS employees to
suspend all operations in Slangspruit and Sinathing
area with immediate effect.
The union said all they wanted was for their members
to be able to do their work in a safe environment.
No comments:
Post a Comment