Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has made an about turn on the Eastern Cape’s controversial scooters, saying they will not be used as ambulances as they don’t meet basic criteria for patient transportation.
Last month, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane and the province’s Health MEC, Sindiswa Gomba, came under heavy fire for splurging R10 million on R100 scooters as part of the response to fight COVID-19.
At the time of the launch of the project, Mkhize congratulated Gomba for the project, saying it was a pioneering effort that should be adopted in other parts of the country.
“The scooters make it easier to save time and energy as we move from one area to the other. It can be converted into an ambulance that can carry someone who needs additional help to be brought to an area where it is easy to access an ambulance… in addition it can also be used as a mobile clinic,” he said.
But in a reply to a DA parliamentary question, Mkhize said the scooters could not be used as ambulances and noted that the provincial government had not consulted his department prior to buying the scooters.
“The scooter project that was launched by the Eastern Cape department of health (ECDOH) does not meet the basic criteria for patient transport as an ambulance. 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,” he said.
“…..the province 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,” he added.
