Staff shortages put 10111 centre out of touch for hundreds
A STAFF crisis at Nelson Mandela Bay’s 10111 call centre has seen hundreds of calls go unanswered over the last few weeks, with Monday being particularly bad when 440 calls went unanswered.
Insiders said staff shortages, due to people booking off sick, had been a problem throughout last month and were fast approaching “a crisis situation”.
Contingency plans have been put in place, with police officers pulled from fighting crime to man the phones and computer systems.
The problem started at the beginning of last month, when staff members started booking off sick.
Police insiders said that on Monday alone more than 1 100 calls were made to the call centre, with 440 callers eventually hanging up as their calls were not answered.
Since the beginning of last month, an average of 400 calls a day were unanswered, and classified as “abandoned”.
Provincial top brass said service delivery had not been hampered and they were monitoring the situation. Insiders, however, have called it a crisis. The 10111 centre services the entire Nelson Mandela Bay district and is directly connected to the emergency services.
It dispatches first responders, detectives and other specialist units as needed.
Yesterday, just five staff members arrived for duty, with only one official manning the 20-odd incoming phone lines.
By the late morning, administration clerks had been roped in to help.
Officials revealed that as few as five people were manning all the computer systems, control desks and phones over the festive season.
To increase the number of calls answered, specialist functions were abandoned by operational officials, who instead manned phones.
Officials said that on Monday, no police officials could test vehicles, or check the identification numbers of suspects, stolen firearms or stolen property like cellphones.
That day, an administration clerk was appointed acting control centre supervisor due to the staff shortages.
One official, who declined to be named, said management had roped in untrained officials from surrounding stations.
On Monday – and yesterday – five staff members were booked off – three on sick leave and two on family responsibility leave.
Other staff have taken maternity leave and annual leave, resulting in only five staff members being at work on Monday.
Another official said the call centre should have at least 18 trained members a shift.
On Monday, it took 10111 operators two hours to arrange an ambulance, tow truck and detectives to visit a crash in which two police vans had collided.
“The delays do not only affect the public, they also affect police officers on the road,” the official said.
“If there is no one, or untrained staff, manning the radios, you will simply not get speedy assistance.”
Another official said: “You cannot put clerks in a situation where they are dealing with life-or-death situations and don’t have the experience or knowledge.”
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Marinda Mills said they were reviewing the staff allocation at the centre.
However, although confirming that she was aware of Monday’s staff shortage, Mills insisted there were sufficient members and employees to deal with all incoming calls.
“Service delivery is not hampered and I can assure the public the situation is closely monitored by this office,” she said, adding it was suspected someone was “maliciously providing misinformation” to the media.
“Measures have been put in place to address the shortage by using administrative staff,” she said.
“Major or intensive training is not required for the capturing and dispatching of complaints as the contingency staff deployed perform the same function at stations from their radio control rooms.”
Mills said there were usually 16 to 18 members on duty per shift and the shortages were due to circumstances.
“This is not a frequent occurrence. When they do occur, personnel on rest days are used and remunerated.”
The DA’s Bobby Stevenson said he had been informed of the situation and asked that immediate action be taken
“This has an adverse effect on service delivery,” he said.
“One welcomes the fact that police have called in extra people to assist but this highlights an underlying problem.
“Action should be taken to ensure highly trained personnel are present and on duty to deal with emergency crises – 10111 is the people’s first port of call.”
SA Police Union (Sapu) provincial spokesman Eric Jinikwe said the staff absences were not due to industrial action.
“Some people have taken unplanned leave and others normal leave,” he said.
“This is normal practice in any industry, and management is trying to address it.”
Measures have been put in place to address the shortage by using admin staff