Paramedic rape 'disturbing': MEC

Allegations that two Tshwane emergency services staffers raped a sex worker were disturbing, Gauteng health MEC Hope Papo said on Wednesday.

"She is a citizen who deserved to be accorded all rights enshrined in our Constitution, in the first instance," Papo said in a statement.

"Now, to learn that the alleged perpetrators are men entrusted with the duty to provide pre-hospital care and who the community hold with reverence is disturbing, to say the least."

Papo said the crime should be viewed as an isolated incident, adding he hoped the public would not take it as a reflection on the whole service.

Health workers had a duty to care for all citizens, with respect and dignity.

"It is their obligation to care and when they choose to become criminals, they are free to leave the service without putting it into disrepute."

Papo welcomed the disciplinary action that the Tshwane Metro launched against the suspects.

"Justice must take its course and the perpetrators must answer for the allegations against them.

The Pretoria News reported on Wednesday that the sex worker was hitch-hiking to Mamelodi when the emergency workers offered her a lift in a municipal rapid response BMW.

According to the newspaper, they demanded sex and threatened to kill her. They took turns raping her, then sped off, leaving her in the veld.

Security guards alerted the police, and rape charges were laid at the Silverton police station on Sunday.

Emergency services spokesman Johan Pieterse told the newspaper the men had been suspended, and that an internal probe was underway.

It was reported that the two men, aged 33 and 34, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where the matter was struck off the roll pending further investigation.