Fifty-eight ambulances in Gauteng were written off in the last financial year, the provincial health department confirmed on Monday.

Gauteng spokesperson Simon Zwane attributed this to the high number of accidents on Gauteng roads.

"Each ambulance travelled a total [of] more [than] 54 000 kilometres last year. This means that ambulances are out on the road daily and this increases their chances of getting involved in accidents," said Zwane.

"Our ambulances have had to respond to incidents in conditions that are less than favourable because of road improvements currently taking place which increase the chances of vehicles travelling at high speed, such as ambulances are required to do, to get involved in accidents."

Road construction has been taking place mainly in Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni and this, Zwane said, corresponded with the high number of write-offs.

Worst figures in years

However, the Democratic Alliance's health spokesperson in Gauteng Jack Bloom pushed the blame onto ambulance drivers, saying the figure was the worst for many years.

"In Johannesburg, 19 ambulances were written off last year, and 40 out of 49 ambulances are operational. Eighteen ambulances were written off in Tshwane, and only 22 out of 36 ambulances are operational.

"In Ekurhuleni, only 47 out of 87 ambulances are working, and 11 ambulances were written off," said Bloom.

The replacement cost for all these ambulances stood at around R23-million, as they cost about R400 000 each, he said.

Cowboy ambulance drivers

"There is clearly something very wrong with the driving skills of these ambulance drivers. They are a danger to their patients and to other drivers."

He called on the province's health MEC Qedani Mahlangu to "crack the whip on cowboy ambulance drivers" and make sure that there was proper driver training.

"Response times are also appalling. Only 38 percent Priority 1 cases were responded to within 15 minutes, compared to 40 percent the previous year."

Zwane said the department was continuously training staff at the call centres to ensure that there were no delays in dispatching ambulances to emergency situations.

He said people calling ambulances for minor incidents took away resources required for emergencies and led to delays.

"The department has also opened a new college of emergency care in Tshwane to increase the number of emergency personnel available to accompany when responding to accidents."

Zwane said a total of 35 students were expected to graduate this year.

"This will hopefully help to improve ambulance services," he said, also citing the introduction of a planned patient transport and obstetrics ambulance service to make ambulances available to respond to priority one patients.