Three men were struck along the Trans-Zambezi Highway at Omega 3 and Chetto villages in Namibia’s Bwabwata National Park on 17 and 18 August 2026, with community members reporting that ambulances took hours to arrive from Katima Mulilo, more than 100 kilometres away. A 90-year-old man died from his injuries, while a 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old boy were treated at Katima Mulilo District Hospital, according to reporting by The Namibian published on 30 August 2026.
The incidents have reignited anger in the Kongola constituency over the absence of dedicated ambulances at any of the four clinics serving the area. Community activist Glen Shebo told The Namibian that nurses must request dispatch from Katima Mulilo, leaving critically injured or ill patients waiting for transport that can take most of the day to arrive.
Kiepie Herman, chairperson of the Bwabwata National Park community development committee, said the delays have turned routine medical emergencies into fatal ones. “If the nurses at Cheto Clinic request an ambulance vehicle for critical emergencies in the morning, it only comes in the evening,” Herman told The Namibian. “It doesn’t matter what life-threatening emergency it is.”
Ministry of Health and Social Services spokesperson Walters Kamaya confirmed that a 4×4 emergency vehicle at Cheto Clinic was grounded. “The 4×4 vehicle used for emergencies was grounded and is currently being fixed,” Kamaya said. “We are told it will be done tomorrow.” Kamaya did not confirm whether a dedicated ambulance would be stationed at Kongola once repairs were completed.
The Namibian independently reported in June and July 2026 that transport shortages were disrupting mobile clinics across multiple regions, with ministry officials acknowledging that some districts could not reach all community health posts. The ministry said it planned to acquire 60 ambulances over three fiscal years, building on 36 ambulances commissioned in May 2025 and distributed across regions.
The Kongola complaints echo rural healthcare access challenges familiar to many South African communities, particularly in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, where ambulance response times in remote areas have drawn similar scrutiny. In both countries, vast distances and under-resourced clinics combine to leave vulnerable patients dependent on transport from distant regional hospitals.
It remains unconfirmed whether the 90-year-old man’s death was directly caused by the ambulance delay, as the causal link has not been independently verified by a second source. Exact response times reported by the community also appear in only one source. This article is based on reporting by The Namibian; Cape Flats News journalists were not on the scene. We will check for updates from the Namibian Ministry of Health by 5 September 2026.