10111: ‘An emergency number that people cannot reliably reach’

Experts warn that unanswered calls could have serious consequences, including lives lost and crimes going unreported. Nearly 1.8 million calls to the South African Police Service’s (Saps) 10111 emergency line – almost 5 000 a day – were abandoned during the 2025- 26 financial year. The figures have raised serious concerns about public safety, staffing shortages and management failures in a service intended to provide South Africans with immediate access to police assistance. Nearly 1.8 million emergency calls abandoned In a written parliamentary reply, acting minister of police Firoz Cachalia said staffing levels at Saps call centres were “severely inadequate”, resulting in significant numbers of emergency calls going unanswered. According to the response, Saps recorded 1 790 428 abandoned calls nationally during the financial year, representing an approximate call abandonment rate of 20%. The department attributed the abandoned calls to excessive waiting times, callers hanging up before reaching an operator and calls being disconnected by the system. Although the figures represent abandoned calls, rather than individual callers, they expose significant weaknesses in the country’s emergency policing response system. Parliamentary committee raises accountability concerns Ian Cameron, chair of parliament’s portfolio committee on police, said the figures highlighted a serious failure in the public’s ability to access emergency police assistance. “When someone calls the police during an attack, a robbery or a threat to their life, getting through is the first step towards receiving help. An emergency number that people cannot reliably reach puts public safety at risk,” Cameron said. He said the minister’s response also raised questions about management oversight and accountability within Saps. According to Cameron, Saps could not provide an accurate ratio of operators to incoming calls without manually extracting staffing information for individual shifts. The response also acknowledged limitations in the systems used to monitor accountability for missed or mishandled emergency calls. Call for urgent recovery plan Cameron called on Saps management to produce a comprehensive recovery plan addressing the crisis. The plan should identify staffing shortages at each 10111 centre and provide deadlines for addressing them, he said. It should also outline technical failures contributing to dropped calls, measures to reduce waiting times and call abandonment, and strategies for managing hoax and non-emergency calls without obstructing genuine emergencies. He also called for monthly performance reports and clear action against substantiated failures to handle emergency calls. “The operators who are trying to keep this service functioning need adequate support. Saps leadership must account for the staffing, systems and management failures acknowledged in its own reply and demonstrate when callers can expect a more reliable service,” Cameron said. Warning of wider consequences for crime reporting Criminologist Witness Maluleke of the University of Limpopo said the crisis went beyond staffing inadequacies and reflected deeper institutional failures within Saps. The inability to answer emergency calls undermined the police service’s responsibility to protect communities, particularly at a time when crime remains a major concern across the country, he said. “The Saps emergency numbers remain very essential, and abandoning calls contributes to the high crime levels,” Maluleke said. “It should be encouraged that people report crime. Many law-abiding citizens are victimised while trying to seek help through the call centre. This ignorance should be urgently attended to. It is wrong and without any justification. “Failing to simply take an emergency call is disturbing. Saps can do better, as serious consequences, including loss of life, can result from this ignorance.” Police management should prioritise emergency call handling, increase staffing substantially and consider the potential contribution of additional recruitment towards addressing youth unemployment, Maluleke said. Abandoned calls could contribute to the country’s so-called dark figure of crime – incidents that are never officially reported or recorded, he added. “We should take crime reporting seriously. Abandoned calls contribute positively to the dark figures of crime, invalidating Saps crime statistics. This should be urgently revisited. We cannot continue like this,” he said. Security expert calls for 10111 system overhaul Security Initiative for Africa expert Willem Els said the current state of the 10111 system represented a serious departure from the purpose for which it was originally established. The system was designed to provide a centralised emergency contact point for people across SA, eliminating the need for members of the public to know the telephone numbers of individual police stations, he said. “Under the original model, operators would receive emergency reports, register incidents and communicate directly with local police stations or radio-control vehicles patrolling the areas. “This allowed police resources to be directed to incidents quickly, while ensuring that cases requiring investigation could be referred to the appropriate station.” However, Els said the system had deteriorated to a point where members of the public could no longer depend on it. “It is alarming if you see how inadequate it is, how unprofessional it is and how it is failing the public in its mandate. If you try to call 10111, you are really fortunate if they pick it up.” Even when calls were answered, the subsequent response and feedback often fell short of what the public should expect, Els said. The solution is to reset and properly resource the system, rather than abandon its original model. “The 10111 system is a brilliant system. It worked well when it was properly implemented. We should go back, redesign it and return to the basics, with technological improvements where necessary.” The system needed proper funding, effective management and a renewed commitment, Els said.