City responds to petition by EMS employees
JOBURG – EMS employees went on protest action on 26 July, raising their concerns over safety after the recent attacks of their services around the city.
Members of the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) went on protest action in the inner-city over their concerns of allegations of misconduct of an EMS employee and issues surrounding their safety concerns on duty.
There has been a rise in attacks on firefighters and paramedics around the city which has hampered their efforts to deliver to communities.
MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, councillor Ntombi Khumalo said the City received a petition on 27 July. “Part of the concerns raised relate to allegations of misconduct against another EMS employee. The balance of the complaints relates to daily operational matters. In support of their allegations, some documentation was submitted to my office to substantiate part of the claims and that purported evidence was still in the process of being considered.”
According to Khumalo, the City believed the EMS members went on a go-slow but it turned into protest action where the petition was delivered.
The City went to the Labour Court to have services resume and the court found in their favour. Khumalo said they hoped the ruling would be adhered to and that the ‘industrial action must cease immediately’.
She further assured residents of the city that operations by EMS were currently being normalised.
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