Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the Council -
(1) conveys its condolences to the family of Mrs Maria Kemp of Willowmore who passed away early this morning;
(2) notes with gratitude the assistance to the family by SAPS Inspector Jonathan Ketchem and his team as well as that of Petty Officer Mrs Maureen Peters of the ambulance services in Graaff- Reinet;
(3) further notes that -
(a) there is no medical doctor in Willowmore;
(b) there were no provincial ambulance staff on duty to certify the death of a community member;
c) the ambulance staff member on duty, Mr Isaac Human, was present in Willowmore but was scheduled for training in Graaff-Reinet and therefore refused to assist the bereaved family;
d) the regional office for ambulance services in Graaff-Reinet had not rescheduled the roster for ambulance personnel to facilitate the training programme;
e) an ambulance was sent from Steytlerville, 80 km away, to certify the death of the patient; and
f) in another incident, on Friday, 21 May 2010, an elderly man, Mr Noorman, was seriously injured when knocked down in the main street of Willowmore by a car and eventually died as there was no ambulance available to transfer him to Port Elizabeth; and
(4) calls on the Minister to investigate the lack of ambulance services in Willowmore.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.