Cape Town - The City of Cape Town is ready to clamp down on pranksters in a bid to stop an influx of false calls made to its Public Emergency Communication Centre.
This after the centre’s hotline reported a 153% increase in prank calls over the past four weekends, with 104 prank calls received compared to 41 four weekends ago. Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the increase was problematic.
“These nuisance calls hog the lines, and that extra time that a caller with a real emergency has to spend waiting, could mean the difference between life and death, or a criminal getting away,” he said.
Smith said many of the prank calls were made by adults.
“While many prank callers consider themselves would-be comedians, some are downright abusive. The nature of an emergency call taker’s job already comes with a lot of trauma and stress, and so prank calls really aren’t as funny as the callers might think.
“In our experience, these callers are not always children – sadly, many adults make themselves guilty of it.
“However, as we head into the school holidays, I want to urge parents to please talk to the children about the potentially serious repercussions that can come from meddling with the emergency services,” said Smith.
The emergency centre logged 1 679 incidents over the past weekend, a jump from 1 424 the weekend before.
Among the calls for assistance were 118 assault cases, 37 related to domestic violence, 62 accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians, and 199 complaints about noise disturbances.
The Western Cape Provincial Community Policing Board further expressed concern over the alarming increase in prank calls.
“Emergency lines are vital lifelines for those in genuine need, and misuse of these services not only wastes valuable resources but can endanger lives by delaying response times,” it said.
“Emergency services are not a playground and prank calls can cost someone their life. These lines must remain available for real emergencies, and the consequences of such behaviour can be dire.”
The board said it would continue to collaborate with police and other role-players to ensure resources were used efficiently.
Macassar community activist, Waseemah Flaendorp, said residents living in poverty did not have money to make prank calls.
“I think that is just an excuse for the City for the bad services and for communities having to wait long for the services to come out. People don’t have money, especially in the poor communities – where do they get the money?”
byron.lukas@inl.co.za
Cape Argus