The South African Police Service (SAPS) 10111 emergency number experienced an outage in Cape Town starting at 16:00 on Tuesday, forcing call operators to rely on backup phones while technicians worked to restore the system. Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Sizakhele Dyantyi confirmed that teams from Telkom and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) deployed to the Maitland command centre to address the technical failure.
Restoration Efforts at Maitland Command Centre
Dyantyi stated that he personally tested the emergency line repeatedly to monitor when calls would successfully route through to the command centre again. Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane confirmed she was aware of the outage and that Dyantyi was actively attending to the issue.
It remains unclear when the emergency lines will be fully operational. In the interim, police advised members of the public to contact their local police stations, station commanders, or Community Policing Forum (CPF) members for assistance.
Did You Know? The South African Police Service operates 20 different 10111 emergency command centres across the country, which collectively handled more than eight million calls during the 2024/25 financial year.
Operational Strain and Alternative Emergency Contacts
Staff members at the Maitland centre raised concerns that the backup system processed calls very slowly, leaving operators worried that community members would suffer due to delayed responses. Call center employees highlighted ongoing workplace pressures, noting that the facility houses around 150 staff members with roughly 84% performing operational duties on exhausting 12-hour shifts.
The disruption coincides with broader public scrutiny of the 10111 system’s capacity and reliability. National SAPS data indicates that more than two million of the eight million calls received during the 2024/25 financial year were abandoned. An audit of the national system revealed an abandoned-call rate of 26.44%, with some response times stretching between eight and 35 minutes due to insufficient resources.
To mitigate the impact of the Cape Town outage, alternative contact channels remain available. Smith noted that the City’s call centre can dispatch or connect callers to SAPS, Metro Police, traffic services, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and ambulance services. Additionally, the Western Cape Government designates 112 as the emergency cellphone number and 107 for landlines.
Recent Scrutiny and Calls for Overhaul
The latest technical failure compounds existing pressures on SAPS following a high-profile incident last month. Motorist Ran Neuner contacted 10111 after witnessing a murder in progress along the N7 highway in Cape Town, but reported that the operator hung up after he could not provide an exact location. Hours later, the charred bodies of four men were found in a field. SAPS launched an internal disciplinary investigation into the operator involved.
Following that incident, the Independent Policing Union of South Africa (IPUSA) called for an urgent overhaul of the 10111 system, as reported by ECR. The union argued that frontline operators should not bear the blame for systemic failures, pointing to chronic staffing shortages, high dropped-call rates, and a lack of modern tools such as live location and digital mapping technology. In response to mounting pressure, SAPS announced plans to progressively replace its aging communication infrastructure with modern digital technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the 10111 emergency number not working in Cape Town?
The SAPS 10111 emergency command centre line in Cape Town went down due to a network issue at the Maitland facility.
Who is working to fix the emergency lines?
Technicians from Telkom and the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) were deployed to the Maitland command centre to restore the network.
What should residents do if they cannot reach 10111 during the outage?
Police advised the public to contact their local police stations, station commanders, or Community Policing Forum (CPF) members in the interim. Residents can also use the City of Cape Town’s emergency communication centre at 021 480 7700, or dial 112 from a cellphone or 107 from a landline.
How will these recurring technical failures and staffing pressures at emergency command centres impact public trust in law enforcement response times?
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