The South African Emergency Personnel’s Union (SAEPU) strongly condemns an attack of EMS personnel who was stabbed multiple times. A crew from Nelson Mandela EMS Base in   Eastern Cape was attacked during a call yesterday. The crew was busy treating a patient inside an Ambulance when two unknown men from nowhere approached them. One of them started shooting to the direction of the other crew member who fortunately ducked the bullets without any harm, while the other thug stabbed the second crew member multiple times. His colleague has managed to put him in the Ambulance and drove to hospital with the patient.    

This unfortunate incident took place months later after Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba visited the district to make false, empty promises about their plan to protect personnel from the attacks. We note with deep concern this irritating strategy used by health department to calm workers emotions by making false promises.

We are calling on health department seniors to stop forcing workers to work in unsafe situations and come up with tangible plan that will protect them from being attacked. We hope that department will organise trauma counselling for the whole shift.  

We wish our colleague a speedy recovery and calling on anyone who might have information that will lead to the arrest of these thugs to contact us or police.

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Issued by SAEPU

For inquiries Contact

Makuwa Kgaladi

076 478 1064/065 863 2494

Email: saepu.headoffice@gmail.com