Woman denied emergency treatment

By: Reggy Nyandeni

A woman was denied emergency treatment after she fell victim of a hit and run accident in central Johannesburg, Braamfontein at the corner of Jorissen and De Beer streets during early Saturday evening.
The woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties was hit by a car which later ran off, after the Police, who were coincidentally near the vicinity of the accident scene, demanded the driver’s license of the culprit. Bystanders say the Police vehicle then chased after the culprit, leaving the victim unattended. Members of the public had to look after the injured woman for two hours after the Police did not return to the accident scene. The basic thing was for the Police to take the registration number of the car involved and do the investigation later.
The police were not the only perpetrators of this dereliction of duty as all other emergency services that were called within minutes of the accident also did not appear. It is not understandable why a state Ambulance could not arrive in time when Johannesburg as well as the Hillbrow Hospitals were within seven kilometers from the scene of the accident. The Johanesburg Metro Police were also nowhere to be found.
The injured woman who laid quietly only moving her head as bystanders tried to chat her up to ascertain the extent of her injuries and the pain she was going through, was ironically fetched by a Maponya 911 Ambulance from Soweto, which arrived within 20 minutes of being alerted to the emergency following the sickening indifference of the emergency services. No one knows where the Police vehicle disappeared to and why the Police did not return to the accident scene.
Unfortunately bystanders did not take the details of the Police vehicle since they did not suspect that the Police would conduct themselves in such a heartless and irresponsible manner. Authorities could not be reached for comment. Treatment delayed is treatment denied.