Health
- How many patients have been affected by the taxi strike organised by Santaco, (b) what are the details of these disruptions and (c) how many ambulances have been prevented from responding to patients’ emergencies due to strike-related protest action?
- We cannot quantify how many patients were affected by the taxi strike. However, collectively, seven provincial health facilities in the Metro were closed and two in the Rurals during the strike. Although these facilities were closed, residents were able to access health services at nearby facilities. A section of Nolungile CHC was set alight and vandalised which resulted in structural damages. The emergency centres and outpatients departments at hospitals remained functional to assist those who could attend.
Hospitals: operated at reduced capacity and elective surgeries were postponed.
Primary Health Care: besides the facilities that were closed, several others remained open but operated at reduced capacity while community-based care in certain areas were suspended. In addition, several the City of Cape Town clinics were also closed due the volatility.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Forensic Pathology Services: we had to declare over 70 areas as red zones which resulted in delayed response times.
Our EMS crews continued to respond to calls with the assistance law enforcement agencies to those volatile areas. When areas were declared red zones by the law enforcement, our teams could not enter as the law enforcement support was also withdrawn from these areas. In total over 70 areas were declared as red zones.
