At the end of March, 17-year-old Bongani Nthangase from Chatsworth, Durban, died after being robbed and stabbed outside a popular restaurant on Durban’s North Beach. His passing and response from police, raised many questions on social media, about why police could not allow bystanders to assist in transporting him to the hospital, which was just 2km away.

Nthangase who was at the beach, was approached by two young men, demanding his cell phone and other valuables. He didn’t have any valuables to hand over, but the robbers stabbed him and fled the scene. 

The teenager was left in the beachfront parking lot, 500 metres from a mobile police station. Lifeguards administered first aid, and a bystander who offered to drive him to Addington Hospital, just 2km away, was told by police that they could be held responsible for anything that happened to Nthangase en route to the hospital.

Health-e News spoke to Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Colonel Robert Netshiunda who explained what the police’s primary responsibility is and why they could not transport Nthangase. Netshiunda says if a patient dies inside a police vehicle, police will have to answer questions about what could have led to the death. 

“Police vehicles are not equipped with emergency life-saving equipment and as such, transporting an injured patient with a police vehicle might worsen the injury and even worse,” Netshiunda says. 

“Police’s primary responsibility is to summon professional Emergency Medical Service personnel to attend to the patient, and if need be, transport the patient to a healthcare facility in a patient-friendly vehicle. Even if the injured person is a suspect, EMS officials would be summoned to the scene and attend to the injuries.” 

After calling an ambulance and waiting for three hours, no one came to assist until Nthangase passed away.

Netshiunda explains that there are police officers who are trained in basic first aid, but if the situation demands more than first aid, police would still call EMS.  

Attorney Thembelani Mpakati from Mpakati Inc. says the South African Police Service (SAPS) gets its mandate directly from the Constitution. Section 205(3) of the Constitution says police must prevent and fight crime, keep public order, protect people and property, and uphold the law. Any rule that goes against this is unlawful and invalid.

“The transporting of patients to hospital for whatever reason is outside the scope and mandate of the police service. In fact, the police by training are not equipped to handle and transport patients. They don’t have equipment and their vehicles are not designed to transport patients,” he says. 

He says the police absolutely have no competence in this regard. 

“Furthermore, those who are responsible for handling and transporting patients by law are required to receive certain training and be registered with relevant authorities like the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA),” Mpakati says. – Health-e News