Focus has been taken off the implementation of 112 as the single national emergency number, as other alternatives are being considered.
Releasing cellphone numbers of individual police officers and generals may be the new route taken in terms of community safety, according to the ministry of police (MOP).
After first punting the end of 2009 as the deadline for the implementation of a single national emergency number, the Department of Communications then said it will be established by the first or second quarter of the next financial year.
It adds that 112 is the public emergency communications number for SA in terms of the Electronic Communications Act.
No answer
However, media liaison officer for the MOP Zweli Mnisi says he is not sure about a single national emergency number.
“People in rural areas sometimes don't have access to telecoms so we can't tell them: 'If you're being attacked, call this number.' They have to travel far to report cases so we need to focus on putting more police stations in these areas.”
He says there had been complaints from the Soshanguve community, in Gauteng, about the 10111 centres. People said their calls were not being answered, or there was no response after they made their call.
Police officials were then asked by national police commissioner Bheki Cele to give out their cellphone numbers, according to the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
“Cele led the way and was the first to call out his cellphone number to the thousands of people who gathered for the imbizo.”
The GCIS added that Cele lined up Gauteng's top brass on stage and, one by one, they made their cellphone numbers public to the crowd.
Police directory
“We are in the process of printing out a national directory so all citizens will have access to the numbers of generals and other officials,” says Mnisi.
He adds that the ministry wants to roll out certain programmes across the country that will help the situation. One example is the sharing of best practices where Gauteng officials will be taken to the Western Cape to see how they run the emergency call centres there.
Despite the complaints, Mnisi says 10111 is a useful tool with some issues.
“10111 is still effective in some cases, but there's a combination of various issues. We're constantly working on efficiency by training officers and making sure they're equipped to deal with the calls - but sometimes there's no passion and commitment from the police officers.”
He adds that an internal review of the performance of 10111 was done. It was found that part of the issue is that call centre agents don't know how to appropriately classify the cases being reported. “So we are refining our recruitment.”
“Some people make prank calls and that has also caused some delay,” notes Mnisi. “In the same way, handing out the cellphone numbers is the ministry's way of leading by example, but it would be disappointing if people called for casual conversations.”
Direct solution
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and deputy spokesperson on community safety John Moodey says unanswered calls and a lack of response, once calls are finally taken, are nationwide problems.
“The police complain that their image is being tarnished, but it is not surprising when they act with a laager mentality and refuse to leave the safety of their stations, leaving complainants to face trouble on their own.”
Moodey adds that the problem does not lie with the IT in the call centres, but with the operators.
“They are lazy, untrained, and lack management and supervision. That's the problem. It's more a problem of the human factor than the IT.”
For this reason, Moodey agrees with the alternative being attempted by the MOP. He says direct communication with police officers has proven to be useful.
He gives the example of one community that donated cellphones to officers and police vehicles that patrolled their area five years ago. Members of the community found that being able to directly contact specific officers and vehicles is much more efficient.
“However, that works if you have a problem at your home or place of work in the area, but what happens when you're travelling between two districts or are just not in your area?”
Old attempt
In response to a previous DA parliamentary question, the minister of police revealed the nationwide average response time to calls made to these centres is 42 minutes.
Partly for this reason, a single national emergency number, 112, was supposed to be established.
The 112 agents were meant to direct calls to the relevant emergency services - irrespective of where they are in the country. This would have allowed South African citizens to dial “112”, toll-free on any telecommunications device, to access a range of emergency services, instead of having to remember numbers for each one.
Share