Freedom Day on the Bult: A night of emergencies
On Tuesday evening, 27 April 2021, bystanders watched as three separate medical emergencies unfolded in the Bult-area.
Many students were out on Freedom Day in the Bult area to enjoy the public holiday, when the celebrations were interrupted by the sudden noise of sirens.
The visualisation above shows the scene on Borcherds Street on Tuesday night, and on a regular, quiet day. (Pictures: Eduard van Loggerenberg)
threestreamsmedia was at the scene when a man with a bloodied arm was escorted out of one of the nightclubs on Steve Biko street. Witnesses claim that he was involved in an altercation when a shattered glass bottle cut open his wrist.
A bystander took the man to a hospital nearby because an ambulance that was already in the area could not take him. ER24 paramedics were in the area to attend to a motorcycle accident that occurred moments before.
A motorcycle that was traveling down Borcherds Street collided with a car, injuring the driver of the motorcycle. Witnesses at the scene said that the car was turning into a parking spot when the motorcycle hit the side of the car. The motorcycle driver was taken away by paramedics after being lifted into the ambulance on a stretcher.
Mooirivier Beskerming patrol units were on the scene to assist ER24. Their security report said that the motorcyclist was not seriously injured.
Another ambulance arrived in the parking lot on Steve Biko when a person suffered a seizure only moments later. Onlookers stood by as paramedics and Mooirivier Beskerming tended to the patient.
Johan Naude, general manager of Cachet Park City Improvement District (CID), a non-profit company working in the greater Bult-area, spoke with threestreamsmedia about Tuesday night’s events.
Naude said that accident-filled nights like these are something that they regularly have to deal with. Mooirivier Beskerming is contracted by Cachet Park CID to provide 24/7 security to the Bult-area, ensuring students’ safety.
Students in the area often engage in dangerous and irresponsible behaviour, fighting and driving whilst texting, just to name a few. Naude said that some students sometimes attempt to harm the security contractors when they try to de-escalate the situation.
Cachet Park CID has been working toward improving the Bult-area since its inception in 2018. “We have had such a reduction in crime since then,” said Naude. He urged students to help Cachet Park CID spot wrongdoings in the Bult-area and report this to Mooirivier Beskerming.
Cachet Park CID’s webpage requests anyone who would like to support the initiative to get involved.