In each of these shocking attacks, emergency care professionals were targeted and hijacked when responding to hoax distress calls that lured them to secluded areas where they were ambushed, kidnapped and robbed of their valuables.
There has been a sharp increase in attacks on emergency-care workers in Gauteng and various other parts of the country. Emergency care requires immediate response to save lives; currently the situation is getting more dire with some areas classified as hotspots where responses to emergency calls require armed escort by either the police or private security firms.
As a result, this interferes with the services that are being provided by the emergency care services and it puts the lives and wellbeing of the public at risk.
“We are outraged by these latest brutal acts and call on law-enforcement authorities to move swiftly in apprehending the perpetrators of these crimes. Should the public have any information regarding these acts of violence, the Board is requesting assistance in reporting the perpetrators to law enforcement," said Simpiwe Sobuwa, chairperson of the Professional Board for Emergency Care.
