This, after Premier Zamani Saul handed over 65 additional ambulances to the department on Monday, following the handover he did last week.

Saul says this should help speed up service delivery across the province, particularly in more rural areas.

Speaking at the handling over ceremony, Saul admitted that his office has received complaints about ambulances taking a long time to arrive whenever they are called for assistance.

He said the provincial government is now trying to ensure that there is a speedy response from their Emergency Medical Services and that lives are saved.

OFM News previously reported how the use of private service providers for emergency medical services in central SA was placed under the spotlight, with opposition having written to the Minister of Health stating that the use of private service providers - particularly the Buthelezi EMS ambulances - was costing provincial governments too much money without adding any value to health services.

Following the uncovering of lucrative contracts in the Free State and North West, President Cyril Ramaphosa last year gave the Special Investigating Unit the green light to start investigating, and directed provinces to invest in buying their own ambulance.

OFM News