KZN has the worst ambulance response times in South Africa

Nationally, 3010 of the country's 3742 ambulances were operational as of May 21. The remaining 732 ambulances were undergoing repairs or maintenance.

If you suffer a life-threatening medical emergency in urban KwaZulu-Natal, there is less than a one-in-three chance that an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance will reach you within the national target of 30 minutes.

New figures released by the Department of Health show that only 28% of Priority 1 emergency calls in urban areas in KwaZulu-Natal were attended to within 30 minutes during the 2025/26 financial year. In rural areas, just 44% of life-threatening emergencies were reached within the target of 60 minutes.

The figures were revealed in a written parliamentary reply by Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi to an MK Party question on the state of EMS.

KwaZulu-Natal recorded the worst urban ambulance response rate in the country. Nationally, only 45% of Priority 1 emergencies in urban areas received an ambulance within the 30-minute target, while 54% of rural emergencies were reached within 60 minutes.