Ambulance staff flee after attack

EMERGENCY Medical Services staff were unable to reach a patient in Mitchells Plain and had to leave the area when they and police came under attack in Rocklands.

EMS spokesperson Robert Daniels said: “Our members attended to the incident after receiving the call at 11.48pm and were on scene at 12.14am. The police vehicle escort was stoned and shot at, and our members declared the area unsafe and stood down.”

Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum chairperson Abe Isaacs said the incident on Saturday was an isolated one and the EMS crew were normally accompanied by police and neighbourhood watch members.

“The patient fortunately was later treated by emergency staff and taken to hospital. Our communities must take responsibility as we need these services and have to face the consequences of such action,” said Isaacs.

He said while the area was not considered a “priority area”, it was residents’ responsibility to make sure emergency services could operate without fear.

EMS manager Pumzile Papu previously said there had been 32 attacks on paramedics this year, compared to 88 last year. He said last year 59 members of his staff took stress leave as a result of the attacks, while 26 had done so this year.

While police do escort ambulances at night, Papu said there was a need to meet community safety forums to look at the possibility of creating safe zones.

Police spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said the Mitchells Plain police station had no record of the incident.