In case of an emergency:   074 133 4353

WHEN YOU CALL 10111 EMERGENCY LINE

It is important at this point to urge members of the public to refrain from abusing the 10111 emergency line through prank calls. Prank calls block legitimate calls from people in life-threatening situations and in need of police assistance. Members of the public have to wait in the queue while all operators are attending to these pranksters.

As mentioned that a high volume of calls are received including these mischievous calls. For example, 350 228 calls were received during the month of November 2016. Of these registered calls, only 873 21 related to urgent police matters, which means that the remaining number were prank calls while others were enquiries.

Callers are requested not to be impatient while on the call, but to hold on as it is guaranteed that an operator will answer.

While it is understood that the callers/complainants are usually under a lot of stress when making calls to 10111, they will be requested to answer questions so that the police/vehicle is dispatched to the correct address after registration of the complaint. At this point, operators sometimes obtain primary information about a suspect or vehicles involved in a crime. Callers should demand a reference number before ending the call for future enquiries.

For non-emergency police related enquiries, calls can be directed to any nearby police station as the 10111 centre’s primary function is to deal with emergency calls. These calls are free if dialled from the landline, and normal cellphone rates apply to calls made from a cell phone.

Tips for callers of the emergency 10111 centre

Remain calm when making an emergency call, and speak clearly while giving the following information:

1. Your name and address

2. Your telephone number, if requested

3. The nearest street corner to where the incident occurred

4. Other useful information, such as the number of suspects, a description of the suspect, whether or not the suspects are/were armed and the direction in which they fled, if available.

Try to keep the conversation as brief as possible. However, the call centre operator requires information about the emergency to ensure your safety and the speedy response of the police.

To register any dissatisfaction with the service rendered by 10111 in Gauteng, members of the public can send their complaints to: KilianSS@saps.gov.za