No arrests have been made after the tragic death of 40-year-old mother of three, KZNEMS paramedic, Phumzile Dlamini, who was gunned down in an ambush in the Mabhanoyini area, near Estcourt, on Sunday evening, 3 October. Dlamini and her crewmate, who is still in hospital, had been on a call when their vehicle was ambushed by a group of armed men.
KZNEMS crews from uThukela were in shock and flooded social media with condolences to Dlamini’s family. “I had worked with Dlamini and it was always a pleasure as she enjoyed serving the community of Estcourt,” said an official, who had asked not to be named. “We are all in a state of shock and can’t believe that one of our own was killed, while trying to assist.” Dlamini, who was an Intermediate Life Support Paramedic with 10 years of service and hailed from Greytown, was hit twice and tragically died at the scene of the crime. KZN Health MEC, Nomagugu Simelane, is deeply concerned and distraught and has condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms. She has sent her condolences to the Dlamini family, and also called on law enforcement authorities to do everything possible to bring the perpetrators to book. “An incident like this is spine-chilling. It is barbaric, cowardly and completely shocking. It’s a strong signal that something has gone horribly wrong in our society when innocent first responders, whose core responsibility is to save lives by helping those in emergency situations, get attacked and murdered like this. It’s outrageous,” she said.
The KZNEMS paramedics had picked up a patient who had fractured a leg, when they had to detour to the home of the wounded man. After securing him, they suddenly heard gunshots coming from outside. None of the gunshots reached the two patients in the bullet-riddled ambulance. DA KZN Spokesperson on Health, Dr Rishigen Viranna, MPL, is saddened and angered by the barbaric attack on the paramedics. “The DA extends its deepest condolences to the family of paramedic Phumzile Dlamini. She was truly a hero who gave her life for the service of her community and patients of KwaZulu-Natal. We also wish her hospitalised colleague well in his recovery. Sadly, this shocking incident is not the first when it comes to KZN’s paramedics. In fact, being a paramedic has become a very dangerous job with numerous attacks, assaults and robberies in the line of duty. Unfortunately, the Department of Health has taken very few steps to ensure that these critical healthcare workers are kept safe. The justice system has also failed our paramedics, with very few arrests and no convictions following these attacks,” said Dr Viranna. Dlamini had a daughter, aged 21, who is at university, and two sons, aged 19 and 12.
