Namola: ‘Uber for police and emergency services’
MORE than 1.2 million South African households experienced a crime incident during the past year. Most of these victims probably contacted the national police emergency line, 10111. Some got the assistance they needed and others didn’t.
To bridge the communication gap, and get help fast, Dialdirect Insurance has partnered with Namola to make South Africa’s fastest-growing safety app available nationally.
SABC3 has come on board as Namola’s official media partner.
Namola is a free crime response app that allows users to share their GPS co-ordinates, name and nature of the emergency with a 24/7 response call centre. For genuine alerts, police, other emergency response and citizen responders are then dispatched and monitored.
Yusuf Abramjee, crime activist and Namola chief ambassador, said Namola was initially launched as an “Uber for police” in Tshwane and later the whole of Gauteng.
“It was introduced to give victims of crime access to a new, innovative way of contacting the police and it now has more than 80 000 registered users.”
Namola improves efficiencies and alleviates pressures placed on 10111 centres by pre-screening alerts. It also pinpoints the user’s exact location, making it easy for emergency services to find them, Abramjee said.
Warwick Scott-Rodger, executive head of Dialdirect Insurance, said the app is a smart complement to 10111.
“Your call will always be answered and the information will be passed on to the nearest police station. Namola doesn’t guarantee that the police will be on time, but it improves your chances to get help greatly.”
SABC acting group chief executive Nomsa Philiso added that, as a broadcaster, the call to fight crime and assist communities with efficient crime-reporting channels is one of its top priorities.
“We all have a huge role to play in fighting crime and, through the SABC3, we hope the SABC will contribute a great deal to spreading maximum awareness about the solution the Namola app brings to South Africans and how they can benefit from it.”
During his maiden State of the Province address, Gauteng Premier David Makhura alluded to the use of technology in the fight against crime.
In response to the premier’s call, Gauteng’s MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, said she was excited about the national roll-out of Namola.
“We piloted the technology in some of the Gauteng traffic police high-performance vehicles and the technology has proved to be effective in improving turnaround time when responding to crime incidents and emergency alerts.”
Namola’s Peter Matthaei said the app is one of the biggest breakthroughs South Africa has had in the fight against crime.