41 ambulances, millions spent: Gauteng defends Joburg EMS licensing process

Johannesburg – The Gauteng government has defended the provincialisation of emergency medical services after reports that 41 City of Johannesburg ambulances, purchased at about R1 million each, have remained largely unused for years amid a licensing dispute.

The ambulances were bought by the City of Johannesburg in 2019, but the Gauteng Department of Health said it had no role in procuring or funding the vehicles. Provincial government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the province began taking over municipal ambulance services in 2009 as part of efforts to comply with national legislation and establish a unified emergency medical service.

“This shift was necessary to comply with the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), which delegates healthcare as a joint responsibility between national and provincial governments,” Mhlanga said, according to The Citizen.

He said the provincialisation process was intended to ensure that ambulances met national requirements relating to vehicles, equipment, staffing and licensing under the 2017 Emergency Medical Services Regulations.

Better emergency care

“The goal is to create a unified and well-coordinated health system under provincial control, which will lead to consistent service quality and better emergency care across Gauteng,” Mhlanga said.

The issue has attracted criticism amid concerns over long waiting times for ambulances in Gauteng. Newsday reported earlier this month that the 41 vehicles were worth more than R16 million and quoted Gauteng MPL Alan Fuchs as saying they were purchased “to save lives”.

“Instead, they have been standing unused at the City’s Emergency Medical Service (EMS) bases, losing value, and not benefiting the community,” Fuchs said.

Fuchs called for an independent audit to establish the ownership, condition, current value and repair costs of the ambulances, arguing that the vehicles should either be repaired and deployed, transferred to the province, allocated to another lawful public service or sold.

Meanwhile, Caxton Network News reported that the ambulances have been standing at the Florida Fire Station, with some showing signs of disuse such as flat tyres. City of Johannesburg EMS spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi disputed the claim that they had been completely idle for six years.

Mismanagement of resources

Mulaudzi said the city continued operating the ambulances for about two years after provincialisation before being advised to stop. The city subsequently sought permission to apply for an operating licence.

“Permission was only granted toward the end of 2024 and we submitted our first application to the GDH at the beginning of 2025,” Mulaudzi said. He added that the initial application was rejected, while a subsequent application was acknowledged by the department in July 2026.

The Gauteng government said the City of Johannesburg submitted an application in July 2026 for an EMS operating licence covering six stations, after initially seeking approval for 15 stations.

“The application is currently under review and is being processed, pending a final decision by the Gauteng Health head of department,” Mhlanga said.

The province said it would also engage the city over the future of the 41 ambulances, including the possibility of absorbing them into the provincial fleet.

“The provincial government remains committed to eliminating any mismanagement of resources and state assets,” Mhlanga said.

The dispute comes as Gauteng continues to face pressure over emergency medical response times and the availability of ambulances, raising questions over whether millions of rands worth of municipal emergency vehicles can be brought back into service.