Community Safety MEC, Dan Plato, and MEC of Health, Dr Nomafrench Mbombo, have welcomed the “hefty” prison sentence handed down to three men who attacked a female Emergency Medical Staff (EMS) member on 5 June in Manenberg.
The convicted skelms will be spending the next 12 years in jail for their brazen ambush at gunpoint of the paramedic, during which they made off with her cellphone, bank card and car keys.
Plato and Mbombo said in a joint statement: “The sentencing yesterday in the Wynberg Regional Court C, together with the community’s assistance after the incident, should be a constant reminder to those who are hell-bent in attacking or robbing our EMS workers. You will be caught and 12 years in jail awaits you.”
In October, a suspect involved in the aggravated robbery of an EMS member in Khayelitsha was also sentenced to 12 years.
It comes as Mbombo this week announced new high-tech measures to ensure the safety of EMS workers, who are being targeted while responding to emergency calls.
There have been 60 attacks on paramedics in the province this year alone, and a record of more than 100 last year.
The new tech gives EMS workers an “emergency button” which they can activate when in trouble.
It will also allow provincial health staff located in six emergency control centres, 52 ambulance stations and crew in 519 vehicles to constantly stay in touch.
Mbombo said Global IT group Dimension Data has been collaborating with her department to implement this technology over the last four years.