Limpopo ambulance hijacked and stripped for parts
The Health MEC has expressed her disapproval of this act and has called on the community to assist the police with information that can lead to the arrest of those responsible.
LIMPOPO – Health MEC, Phophi Ramathuba says crime has become the number one risk to the delivery of quality healthcare in this country following an incident where an ambulance and it’s crew were hijacked on Wednesday evening.
The emergency workers had dropped off a patient at the Jane Furse Hospital and were returning to the station when they were targeted and hijacked at Stydskraal near Ga-Nchabeleng. The ambulance, which had been stripped for parts, was recovered at Ga-Masemola on Thursday morning. The crew were also found unharmed and will be offered counseling.
The MEC has expressed her disapproval of this act and has called on the community to assist the police with information that can lead to the arrest of those responsible.
“It is quite unfathomable how a sane person can target such a valuable and sensitive community resource such as an ambulance. Doesn’t anyone care that a community member, a relative or even a parent or sibling can loose their lives due to non-availability of an ambulance because the one available has been hijacked and stripped for parts? What have we become as a society?” reads a statement issued by Ramathuba.
She concluded that the department procures 50 ambulances annually to beef up its fleet, but the impact is minimal due to theft and hijacking.
