Amarok to the rescue

In eThekwini, Netcare 911’s rescue manager,
Konrad Jones, said he does up to 500 km a day in an Amarok double cab

KZN Health has thrown the Amarok into the deep end, deploying the relatively new Volkswagen bakkie alongside the legendary Land Cruiser as mobile clinics in rural areas.

While the field workers in Eskom’s distribution centre have long proven the durability of the Land Cruisers under a constant maximum load, the jury is still out on how the Amarok will fare in KZN’s deep and steep valleys.

Muzi Mbatha, of Health’s Emergency Medical Services in the Amajuba District, told Witness Wheels that he has had his Amarok emergency response vehicle for only a few weeks. Having driven an Isuzu double cab before, he is looking forward to putting the big Volkswagen through its paces in the valleys around Newcastle during the coming rainy season.

In eThekwini, Netcare 911’s rescue manager, Konrad Jones, said he does up to 500 km a day in an Amarok double cab that has been converted to carry heavy emergency-rescue equipment, which includes jaws of life, ladders and stretchers.

Jones drove a Ford Ranger double cab before, and said he was quite excited when Volkswagen announced it would sponsor Netcare 911 with two Amaroks.

Jones said he spends about 70% of his day on tar, where the heavy Amarok handles well with a comfortable ride, and the rest of his driving ranges from high-angle rescues in the mountains to traversing deeply rutted rural roads at speed. He especially likes being able to engage the bakkie’s full 4x4 ability with the press of a button.

He said the 2,0 bi-turbo averages about 700 km on a tank, which includes response driving at speed. “The Amarok has proven more economical than the Ranger, although [the Ford] has more power but less torque.”

“I think the Department of Health will do well with its new Amaroks,” he predicted.

Vuza Fleet Management Services in Pietermaritzburg completed one of the two contracts to convert the bakkies into clinics for the department. The process involved removing the load bins from the single cabs’ chassis and building fully-customised, insulated storage areas for medical supplies and equipment on a new frame.

Vuza Group in Pietermaritzburg with three of the Land Cruisers they have converted into mobile clinics. 

CEO of Vuza, Kholokile Ntsobi, told Witness Wheels that the contract to strip and equip 14 Cruisers and seven Amarok bakkies cost the Department of Health about R2,2 million.

Ntsobi said the money was spent with five major and several smaller component suppliers in Pietermaritzburg. This included MacDonalds for the steel, Midlands Springs for stronger suspensions and Electrolite for lighting.

He said the company, which was established in 1999, won the contract because it has branches in all nine provinces — with two plants in Kwa­Zulu-Natal — and ongoing research and development to offer the latest in conversions.

“We compete on price and quality, while our international footprint allows us to offer 24-hour after-sales service.” He said Vuza also does business in Botswana and has an agency in Lesotho.

Vuza is already working on converting 40 Mercedes-Benz Viano vans for the Gauteng Department of Health. This contract will bring business worth R3 million to Pietermaritzburg’s component suppliers.

While Sam Mkhwanazi, spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, was not able to answer Witness Wheels’ technical queries, the new Amaroks and Cruisers do answer a complaint raised by Nehawu provincial secretary Zola Saphetha, who in May 2013 complained that rural areas in KZN faced an ambulance shortage.
In May 2014, Vuza Group delivered another batch of mobile clinics, these built on Ford Rangers.