One South African province has only 190 ambulances for 3.8 million people

The Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, revealed that South Africa only has 3,708 operational ambulances for 62 million citizens.

Motsoaledi shared details on the country’s ambulance numbers in response to a question about the issue in the National Assembly.

National Assembly member Nompumelelo Mhlongo asked the Minister of Health about the total number of operational ambulances in each province.

He revealed that South Africa had 3,708 operational ambulances as of 17 June 2026. This equates to one ambulance to 16,728 people.

This can be considered high, because South Africa is a large country with millions of people living in rural areas.

In a dense city, one ambulance can serve 100,000 people because travel distances are short and the vehicle can cycle through calls quickly.

In a remote rural area, you might need two ambulances dedicated to a community of just 4,000 people because a single hospital transport can take hours.

In the United States, for example, there is approximately one ambulance for every 3,500 people. In Australia, it rises to 5,000 to 6,000 people.

In the United Kingdom, which is more densely populated, there are around 19,000 people per ambulance.

The UK has a centralised, strategic dispatch system that moves vehicles dynamically based on predictive demand. This means it can operate with fewer vehicles per capita.

South Africa more closely resembles the United States, which means that one ambulance to 16,728 people can be considered inadequate.

The Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have the worst ratio, at nearly 28,000 people per operational ambulance.

The best province is Limpopo, which only has 9,000 people per operational ambulance. The Northern Cape ranks second, at 10,500 people per ambulance.