MAFIKENG - Five patients were robbed at gunpoint and forced out of a patient transport vehicle before an armed man drove off with it in a brazen hijacking in Moretele.
The incident happened shortly after 8.30pm on Tuesday in Tladistad village near Makapanstad.
The vehicle was transporting patients when the driver stopped after dropping off an elderly patient.
According to the North West Department of Health, an armed man then approached the vehicle, pointed a firearm at the driver and demanded his cellphone and wallet.
The driver was ordered to lie on the ground.
The five patients inside the vehicle were then robbed of their cellphones and ordered to get out before the suspect fled in the vehicle.
The stolen vehicle was recovered less than 40 minutes later at Kalkpunt near Rabosula village.
The suspect remains at large, with police continuing their search for the armed hijacker.
North West MEC for Health Sello Lehari condemned the attack and called for the swift arrest of the suspect.
“A patient transport is not a luxury vehicle,” Lehari said.
He said the vehicles were public health resources intended to safely transport patients, particularly elderly and vulnerable people, to and from healthcare facilities.
“There is absolutely no justification for hijacking a vehicle that is serving our communities,” Lehari said.