The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling on the MEC of Health, Maruping Lekwene, to halt the procurement of a digital dispatch system for ambulances and to first prioritise the repair and maintenance of its vehicles, especially in the Namaqua district. An incident whereby I last week came across a broken-down ambulance on the N7 on the way to Hondeklipbay, has once again shone the spotlight on the health department’s defunct fleet. This comes after the ambulance was not even equipped with the necessary spanner to enable the driver to change his tyre (see pic here). The driver also lamented the state of the vehicle’s other clearly worn tyres. The vehicle functions largely as a patient transporter, ferrying patients from outside of Garies to doctors’ appointments and for sonars and is rarely available when there is an emergency.
Given South Africa’s history of human rights abuses and the growing international awareness of human rights, I strongly doubt that there are any amongst us who do not agree on the importance of human rights which serve to ensure that people have their basic needs met:
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