Johannesburg - Netcare 911 has summarily suspended the two paramedics at the centre of a racial storm – after The Star got senior management to watch a video of the incident.
On Saturday, the two attended to a scene where a white motorist had attacked a black motorist with an axe on the N1 north at the Beyers Naudé off-ramp.
They are accused of attending to the white attacker, Nicholas Gale, who was not injured, but not attending to his victim, Mandla*, whose face was covered with blood pouring from the wounds on his head where he had been hit with the axe.
Instead, the paramedics made statements to their managers saying they had left the scene because the crowd had threatened them.
Netcare 911 managing director Noeleen Phillipson told The Star that paramedics left the scene because their lives had been at risk due to “the volatile and hostile” situation.
“They said they had made every effort to assist both individuals, but that the situation became untenable and death threats were repeatedly levelled against them.
“They believed their lives were in danger and felt that they had no choice but to leave the scene. Some bystanders followed them to their response vehicle, banging on the windows. One tried to enter the vehicle from the back,” Phillipson said.
Bystanders had told The Star they were irate that the white paramedics had attended to the white aggressor and not the black victim.
Phillipson denied it.
She said it was also not true that Mandla did not receive medical assistance from the paramedics.
“We also wish to give the assurance that Netcare 911 does not discriminate against individuals, whatever their race, gender or ability to pay for services. In fact, the senior paramedic attended to the victim with the head and upper-arm injury, and her junior colleague rendered assistance to the second individual, while simultaneously trying to keep the group of angry bystanders away from him.
Mandla and François Bangoye Titse, a witness whose sister filmed the paramedics on the scene, were outraged. Mandla said the paramedics did not come near him.
“So the paramedics had the guts to protect my attacker from the bystanders he was busy swearing at but could not stand up for themselves when they were so-called threatened? Clearly this person has not seen the video, if she has the guts to say all those things,” he said.
Titse tried to give Netcare 911 the recording to allow managers to see for themselves.
He agreed to meet Shalen Ramduth, the general manager of inland and aeromedical operations at the Netcare Group, in Cresta. Ramduth never showed up, but sent him an e-mail on Monday instead.
Netcare no longer needed the video, Ramduth said, as managers had already spoken with the staff members concerned “and have sufficient information regarding this case”.
Ramduth also said that in terms of the National Health Act 61 of 2003, Titse was not permitted to disclose the footage to anyone else without Mandla’s consent.
Phillipson denied this was a bid to gag Titse. “The e-mail from Shalen Ramduth was not written to protect Netcare 911 or its staff, but to protect the patients involved.”
She also confirmed that Ramduth had not gone to meet Titse.
“When the decision not to meet him was communicated to him, he threatened to post the footage on social media websites. We do not know why he wanted to meet with our officials,” she said.
On Tuesday night, The Star sent the video clip to Netcare. Less than an hour later, the two paramedics were suspended.
“The media statement previously submitted was based on the statements from the two paramedics on the scene. These statements now appear to have contained significant inaccuracies regarding the actual treatment provided to the two individuals involved,” Phillipson said.
“The staff members have been suspended from duty and a full investigation is under way. We will not hesitate to take whatever action is appropriate once the investigation has been concluded,” Phillipson added.
Gale appeared in court on Monday and was released on bail.
* Not his real name
The Star