Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedics say they feel unsafe working in some areas of the Cape Flats. They say they often feel as if they are in danger in areas such as Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Elsies River.
These are some of the areas which have been declared red zones, with paramedics not allowed to enter them without police escort.
EMS paramedic Tracey Blankenberg says she sometimes feels as if her life is in just as much danger as the patient she is treating, when they respond to a call in a red zone.
She says although she and her partner are supposed to be escorted by police when they enter a red zone, they have to wait up to an hour sometimes at police stations in the area for a police vehicle to become available.
Blankenberg says she has even felt threatened while responding to gang-related incidents, with gangsters telling her that they would harm her if their friends or family members didn’t survive.
She says her colleagues have also told her stories about gangsters boarding the ambulance after a shooting, to finish the job.
