National police commissioner Riah Phiyega has welcomed the auditor-general's (AG's) report, which shows failure with the 10111 emergency call centres.
The SA Police Service (SAPS) annual report for 2011/12 included a report by the AG, revealing that 58% of positive Incident Reports are not linked to dockets on the Case Administration System (CAS).
This means 58% of reported attacks on citizens or theft from them, for example, logged via the 10111 line, are simply not being documented, according to Democratic Alliance (DA) shadow police minister Dianne Kohler Barnard.
She adds that too many criminals are thus falling through the cracks of a "disintegrating administrative system".
SAPS says Phiyega has taken cognisance of the report by the AG. "The police management has been tasked to interrogate the findings and prepare a comprehensive response to the issues raised."
Damning report
"While citizens believe that their cases are being investigated by an SAPS that costs them R62.4 billion per annum, the criminals will no doubt be delighted to hear that the majority of their activities are never even looked at by our ailing SAPS. Justice is not being served," says Kohler Barnard.
She explains that if dockets are not being opened on the CAS system, then the crimes will never be investigated.
"Against this background, it is bizarre that the SAPS failed to spend a massive R351 million on revamping the Criminal Justice System - the very system which is needed to provide us with accurate case information and statistics.
"The AG's report is one of the most damning in a decade, and this minister must step up and ensure that SAPS commanders instil discipline at their stations with regards to logging incident reports."
Purpose defeated
DA Gauteng provincial leader John Moodey says the Gauteng SAPS call centre was relocated to Midrand at a cost of R50 million. The centre was established to centralise and improve service delivery to the citizens of the province.
"However, a lack of training for call centre agents and supervision by SAPS members has defeated the purpose of the new centralised system."
He added that until two years ago, police reservists were deployed at the call centre over weekends to assist during peak call periods. There was a marked decline in the efficiency of the call centre since this action and it resulted in a slump in service delivery.
"Civilian staff are employed as operators, which is good as trained police officers are needed on the beat and not behind desks."
Moodey also said a centralised call centre is a positive step in dealing with the high volumes of emergency calls made on a daily basis, yet it is equally important that the correct monitoring and evaluation systems are in place.
"Many private companies have effective monitoring systems in place. Often supervisors will listen in to ensure that customers are receiving the best possible assistance. This too should be enforced by the SAPS as citizens have the right to effective service delivery."
Personal calls
In July, Gauteng police urged residents to come forward with any complaints they may have regarding the 10111 emergency call centre in Midrand.
SAPS provincial management had taken a decision to look into the matter in order to improve the centre's performance and ensure speedy reaction towards the needs of communities, said the police service.
Political researcher Gareth van Onselen, in May, revealed that more than one in three calls made to South African police stations are not answered.
Call centre response was acknowledged as being so poor that the ministry of police took to handing out cellphone numbers of police officials last year.
Officers were asked by then national police commissioner Bheki Cele to give out their cellphone numbers, and the department is in the process of printing out a national directory so all citizens will have access to the numbers of generals and other officials.
Jammed pilot
Emergency Medical Services had called for the implementation of a centralised emergency number (112), because responses from the 10111 centres were delayed and not always reliable.
The implementation of 112, as a single national emergency number, has been on the cards for several years, but the project has been cancelled and restarted several times.
In February, Themba Phiri, acting deputy director-general of the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development at the DOC, said there was no clear timeframe for when the number will be implemented.
The pilot call centre reportedly cost R80 million, and was stuck in pilot mode for more than four years.
Currently, the recognised public emergency numbers in SA are 10111, 10177 and 112 for mobile phones.
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