KZN shutdown: Ambulance responding to elderly patient turned away by protesters

An ambulance racing to help an elderly lady who had collapsed had to turn around and reroute after being blocked off by a group of protesters who had blockaded Duffs Road bridge in KwaMashu on Friday night.

The sporadic protests in several areas in and around Durban continued as former president Jacob Zuma supporters took to the streets.

KZN shutdown protest delays ambulance

One such protest delayed paramedics in attending to a medical emergency in Mount Edgecombe.

KZN VIP Medical Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson told News24 that paramedics responded to a medical emergency at around 20:00 when they were stopped by protesters.

“My ambulance was mobile to an elderly patient who had collapsed at her home in Mount Edgecombe. Paramedics responded, and the shortest and quickest way was to go onto the M25 and then onto Duffs road and up Mount Edgecombe,” Jamieson said.

“As they approached the bridge, they were met with protesters chanting and dancing, fires across the road, and concrete boulders in the road.”

Ambulance rerouted

The paramedics turned around and rerouted going through Umhlanga.

“This delayed the call for quite some time.”

Jamieson said the quick thinking by paramedics meant that they avoided a hostile situation and stayed safe.

The patient, who is in her late 80s, was attended to and stabilised on the scene before being transported to a nearby hospital. Violent protests over former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration have continued into Friday evening in KZN. (Supplied)

Jamieson said they notified police and metro officers, but that law enforcement have been inundated with calls about protests.

ALSO READ: ‘Zuma’s supporters must accept he is behind bars’ – DA

Protesters set trucks alight

Meanwhile, another violent protest erupted on the N3 toll at Mooi Plaza with trucks set alight on the southbound carriageway near the Mooi River exit.

N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) spokesperson Anita Heyl said that all Durban-bound lanes are closed to traffic. There were also reports of protesters throwing stones and burning tyres being sprawled across the road.

A first responder told News24 that three trucks were ablaze on the N3 near the Mooi Plaza. The source added that the protesters have been playing cat and mice with police.

They cause chaos in one area and as soon as law enforcement responds, the protesters run away. As police leave to respond to unrest elsewhere, the protesters return.

Protests linked to Zuma

Protests erupted following the imprisonment of Zuma, who was found guilty of contempt of court by the Constitutional Court. The apex court sentenced the former head of state to 15 months behind bars

Earlier on Friday, News24 reported that government said it believed people who supported Zuma and opposed his incarceration were behind the protests.

Zuma’s daughter, Duduzile, posted several messages to Twitter encouraging public violence.

She was widely accused of inciting violence after posting an undated video showing someone firing shots at an ANC poster brandishing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s face. She later deleted the tweet.