A warning issued to Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) personnel by the provincial MECs for Health and Transport ahead of the holiday season might have led people to believe that April Fool’s Day, not Christmas, was around the corner. The message is: don’t drink and drive; and don’t sell your vehicle and pretend you have been hijacked.
This is an astonishing caution that suggests shocking dereliction of duty on the part of personnel who should be dedicated to public welfare and responsible behaviour. And why raise this now? Past transgressions should have been dealt with so severely there should be no question of a repetition.
The resources being deployed are impressive and the authorities should be congratulated on the planning and foresight that have gone into the Alpha Operation. But a plan is only as good as its management and personnel, and the alarming warning should be no more than an historical footnote.