The Gauteng Department of Health has made available ambulance support services to the Johannesburg Emergency Management Services to cater for the Confederations Cup.

The Gauteng Department of Health has made available ambulance support services to the Johannesburg Emergency Management Services to cater for the Confederations Cup.

The move is aimed at providing enough emergency services resources during the Confederations Cup as some of the EMS workers have been on strike for the past three weeks.

EMS spokesperson Percy Morokane said though most of their members had returned to work, the health department was asked to provide support during the Confederations Cup.

"The health department is supporting us with ambulances to make up for the 20 percent of our staff who are yet to report for duty," said Morokane.

"We will still be rendering services such as search and rescue, disaster management and fire fighting," he said.

Morokane said the City of Johannesburg, Gauteng department of health and Samwu were scheduled to hold negotiations yesterday to address the strike.

Morokane said EMS members were not allowed to strike because they perform essential services.

"They are defying a court order which ruled that they should go back to work and not intimidate non-striking workers," Morokane said.

The EMS strike began on May 28 when the workers demanded the wage disparities be addressed as promised by management last year.

Among the workers who joined the strike were ambulance drivers and call centre operators.

On May 29 the Labour Court ruled that the workers should return to work.