KZN paramedics kidnapped, robbed and forced to buy alcohol during four-hour ordeal

Staff Reporter

KwaZulu-Natal Emergency Medical Services personnel were kidnapped at gunpoint, robbed and forced to drive their captors to at least two taverns to buy alcohol during a four-hour ordeal on the R34 early on Sunday, the provincial Department of Health said.

The EMS workers had been responding to a call for assistance at Nkwalini Store when they were confronted by armed assailants who took their personal belongings and forced them to use their bank cards to purchase alcohol.

“While responding to a call for help, a call made in the sacred name of saving lives, our staff were held at gunpoint, robbed of their personal belongings, and forced to drive to at least two taverns to purchase alcohol using their own bank cards,” the department said in a statement.

“They were held captive for four hours before being released. Thankfully, they were not physically assaulted, but the psychological trauma