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PEOPLE'S POST | GRASSY PARK Tuesday, 13 August 2013
EMERGENCY NUMBER: CALLERS FEEL THEY ARE LEFT HANGING
‘No answer at 10111’ NADINE MOODIE
W
hen faced with an emergency, the first thing you need is help. But when that help is a phonecall away and no one is answering, you could feel like you’re left hanging. A businessman says he’s called the 10111 emergency number on numerous occasions and had terrible experiences. “I witnessed a robbery where people were stabbing each other,” says the man, who does not want to be named. “It was a heated
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situation and people were getting hurt. I called the emergency number and there was no answer. I was frustrated and afraid, so I called again and reported the matter, but the police never pitched.” He says he no longer calls the police and instead drives to a police station to report crime. Language also became an issue. A previous time when he tried reporting an incident to 10111, “the call centre operator asked me to refrain from speaking Afrikaans because he couldn’t understand me”. He believes some 10111 operators don’t have a good command of languages spoken by the people whom they’re serving. An elderly woman, who does not want to be named, says she calls 10111 at least three times a week to report crimes , but very seldom gets a response from the police. “It’s very frustrating when police encourage residents to report crimes and promise to come to your assistance, but never pitch when you call,” she says. “I tried to report a case where a young girl was being raped by her grandfather, but no one answered the phone at the police station. I called (suspended chairperson of the provincial Community Police Forum) Hanif Loonat, who went to the police station to report the crime. “The rapist is now behind bars because we managed to go to the police to report the crime. What happens in cases where people can’t go to the police?”
The feisty woman says she sometimes takes the law into her own hands and personally removes drug peddlers from her street. Other residents walk to the police station to report crimes because their calls are not answered. “The service is appalling. During Ramadaan I called to report an incident and the call centre agent put the phone down in my ear because she could not understand English. Another time my call was transferred to an answering machine saying they’re ‘not available at the moment’,” she recalls. “I’m a pensioner and spend money buying airtime to call and they don’t pitch.” Heideveld Community Neighbourhood Watch chairperson Mugidien Barnes says the service is at its worst over weekends. “I’ve tried reporting shootings and domestic violence cases over weekends and no one answers the phone,” he says. Loonat, who is suspended for criticising the Athlone Police Station, says he’s received countless complaints from people saying they can’t get through at weekends. He says government should upgrade the system so callers can select a language preference. Loonat says he’s relayed complaints to deputy provincial police commissioner General Sharon Japhta about the “inefficient and ineffective emergency number”. He says some people who called the number were reporting shootings and do-
mestic violence. “I’ve received 30 complaints in the last three months. I also tried calling the number and no one answered.” It’s better for people to call 10111 because the system automatically logs the call and records the conversation, so then no one can deny facts of the conversation, he says. Technological aspects need to improve and well-trained operators need to be employed, Loonat adds. “We should not be playing with people’s lives. Money should be spent on this service, even though it’s costly, because our people’s lives cannot be in danger.” Provincial police spokesperson FC van Wyk says 10111 is a medium to receive complaints, which are “registered and dispatched to the local police station or complaint vehicle responsible to attend to the complaint. It is the station commander’s responsibility to attend to the complaint within their policing area”. He says there are delays at busy times, like weekends and month-end. “All calls should be answered within two seconds. About 63% of all calls are nuisance and information calls.”
Life, love, lies and laughter A stripper, sex worker and grande horizontal. Bambi Kellerman comes to the Fugard Theatre in District Six in her raunchy cabaret show, 50 Shades of Bambi. The younger sister of Evita Bezuidenhout will take the audience on a journey of her teenage confusion, youthful experimentation, middle-aged compromise and twilightyear common sense of life, love, laughter and lies. Bambi will entertain and educate the audience on relationships, trust, happiness, hope, love and fidelity with the aid of musical director and pianist Godfrey Johnson. The show, which naturally stars Pieter-
Dirk Uys, is recommended to anyone who believes in freedom of expression and the right to choose what is best for them when the lights are low. The show has an age restriction of 12. It runs at the Fugard Theatre until Saturday 24 August. Performances on Wednesdays and Thursdays start at 20:00, while shows on Fridays and Saturdays commence at 19:00 and 21:00. Tickets, at R150, can be bought via Computicket or the Fugard box office on (021) 461 4554. People’s Post is giving away three double tickets to the show on Friday 16 August. To enter, visit www.peoplespost.co.za.
INTROSPECTION: PieterDirk Uys stars as Bambi Kellermann in 50 Shades of Bambi.
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