EC scooters not suitable ambulances, Mkhize confirms
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the scooters introduced to the Eastern Cape recently do not meet the basic emergency medical services regulations.
In a written reply to parliamentary questions from the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mkhize said that the scooters, with sidecars, will only be used to deliver medication in rural parts of the Eastern Cape.
“The purpose of this project by the ECDOH is mainly for widening access to primary health care and delivering of chronic medicine for the most remote areas of the Eastern Cape Province.”
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Mkhize also said that the Health Department had not been consulted on the specifications before the scooters were procured for a reported R10m.
“The Eastern Cape has since been advised that none of these scooters will be used as ambulances because they do not meet the specific requirements as provided for in the EMS Regulations, such as, minimum patient compartment space and equipment requirements.”
DA MP Siviwe Gwarube says the bid adjudication committee in the Eastern Cape has also committed to investigating the awarding of the tender.
“This is in addition to the investigation that the DA has requested from the South African Human Rights Commission to look into the rights of patients who would have to be subjected to this inhumane transport.”