The metro’s Customer Relations Management (CRM) Department, together with Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS), rolled out an emergency services safety campaign on Sunday.
This safety campaign, themed ‘Your Safety Is Our Concern and Our Safety Is Your Concern’, follows the scourge of attacks on emergency services personnel and law enforcement officials in the metro.
This was held in the heart of the Makause community at the Makause informal settlement sports ground.
Officials from the metro, DEMS, SAPS, EMPD and the Disaster and Call Centre Management Department gave presentations on the day, detailing the process residents had to follow in order to receive efficient assistance in an emergency.
“When you call our call centre, you will be asked to describe the injuries your friend or family member may have suffered. Please be as descriptive as you possibly can so we can ensure we provide enough assistance over the phone until the ambulance arrives,” said Millicent Bheki, a representative from the Disaster and Call Centre Management Department.
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The department interpreted the spate of attacks on emergency services personnel as a complex and dynamic act of denying desperate communities their rights to health and safety services.
“We have recorded a total of 51 attacks since 2015,” said William Ntladi, district manager media liaison for Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS).
“The most serious one happened in March this year, whereby one female firefighter was shot and hospitalised while attending to a gunshot victim.
“The incident happened in Dukathole.
“Furthermore, we have recorded eight attacks between March and July.
“These attacks have since impacted negatively on emergency service’s service delivery.
“Between the months of June and July, three ambulances had to be decommissioned as a result of these attacks.”
According to Ntladi, this scourge has caused some emergency services personnel to retaliate with violence in order to protect themselves, while a number of attacks on male firefighters and paramedics go unrecorded.
“Rendering of fire and ambulance services is an integral part of the fire brigade services with the objective of life preservation and property protection,” he said.
“Together we can win the battle.”
Ward 21 councillor France Ngomane was pleased to have had the campaign rolled out in his community because he has been battling to find common ground with his community regarding the attacks.
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“The issue of ambulances being attacked when driving into our communities to render much-needed services is quite a disappointing one to face,” he said.
“The downside of it all is that the vulnerable women and children who require these services after being raped or robbed or the man who has been shot at night cannot enjoy the luxury of being transported from the scene of the incident to the hospital.
“Through this campaign we are sending a clear message, which states that we are willing to work with law enforcement to capture these criminals and restore peace in our communities, to allow emergency services personnel to continue to render these services in our area, going unharmed.”
CRM, DEMS and law enforcement officers, as well as various stakeholders will take the campaign to Ward 35, namely Dukathole and Dukathole Extension Nine in the coming weeks.
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