The Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District Health Emergency Medical Services (EMS), staged a peaceful protest from Jouberton to Alabama last week Friday. The aim of the walk was to plead with the communities of Matlosana, particularly Jouberton, a hotspot area for EMS personnel where they are attacked. The staff members want a stop put on the attacks on EMS officials, where they are prevented from doing their work of saving lives during emergencies.
The EMS officials have recently experienced a spike in attacks while on duty, disabling them from their primary task of saving lives in the communities. The South African Police Services (SAPS) AURUM Institute, EMS officials from Ventersdorp, and the Tlokwe region, formed part of the march to give the Matlosana region support, as it is currently the only region in Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District that is faced with a high number of attacks.
This year alone, three EMS personnel attacks were reported in Jouberton and Kanana, with the latest being reported in Extension 2 Jouberton in August. During the latest attack, two female ambulance crew members were attacked at gunpoint. but survived without any injuries with the help of family members they went to assist.
The Acting Sub-District Manager for Matlosans, Dimaktso Tsolela, said the event was the first of its kind, and the primary purpose of the peaceful march was to raise awareness among the community that they stand against EMS personnel attacks. Tsolela said the community must be aware that they are not going to let go of such attacks to go unchallenged. "We are calling upon the community to work and stand together against the attack of the EMS personnel," she said.
The Ventersdorp EMS Station Manager, Lerata Mafereka, said even though such reports have not yet been reported in Ventersdorp, they still condemn the attacks on EMS personnel. Mafereka said the unity among all the counterpart stakeholders, including municipal councillors, can play a significant role in preventing such attacks.
He said that in their current financial year, they have come up with outreach programmes throughout the district, and called upon the councillors to invite them to their community meetings so that they can teach the community about all the services they are providing. This includes the community concerns about services rendered to them by the EMS personnel, so they know what is rendered to all community members.
Solomon Klassen, who is the EMS Station Manager in the Tlokwe area, said they have already made some engagements with the SAPS to be on standby in Potchefstroom to escort their EMS personnel if they find themselves in unsafe areas that seem to put their lives in danger. However, in their area, no attacks have been reported yet.
Two events are planned for this month: on October 12, where they will be having community engagements in Khuma and Tigani, while the following day, they will hold the same events in Kanana and Jouberton.
