There will be consequences for a paramedic from the provincial department of health in KwaZulu-Natal who went to a local pub during working hours.
Nomagugu Simelane, the province’s MEC for health, said her department is investigating to determine the events leading up to the incident.
She made the comments during a media briefing on Wednesday at Prince Mshiyeni Hospital in Durban, where she and other senior department officials were welcoming the first 2025 babies.
Situated in the expansive township of Umlazi, Prince Mshiyeni Hospital bears the name of the late AmaZulu prince and regent Prince Mshiyeni KaDiniZulu. It is the biggest and busiest hospital in the province.
“In the last two days, we have received about two complaints about ambulances that were abused by some of our health workers,” Simelane said. “A concerned person saw one of the ambulances parked outside a tavern for several hours.”
Abuse of public resources
She added that in a second incident, another health worker was seen driving an ambulance carrying building supplies from the Ugu district to eThekwini, which is roughly 160km away.
“We are following up on that. There are processes that management is following in terms of both cases.
“This type of gross abuse of public resources should be condemned at all costs because it takes away much-needed critical resources from the people who need them the most,” she pointed out.
During the briefing, it was also revealed that, as of Wednesday noon, the province had welcomed nearly 100 babies.
St Mary’s Hospital, a medical facility outside Pinetown, had the largest cohort. Shortly after midnight, the first baby was born at KwaHlabisa Hospital in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
By 7am, five babies were delivered by the hospital.
Meanwhile, 27 babies have been born in North West since midnight, with the youngest mother being 15 years old.
