A nationwide audit has found that 56% of police stations across South Africa fail to answer their telephones, raising serious concerns about public access to emergency services.

The Democratic Alliance conducted an audit of 1 025 police stations across all nine provinces, revealing that 571 stations did not answer their phones whilst only 454 answered one or both of their officially listed contact numbers.

The audit used official SAPS contact numbers to attempt to reach every station in the country.

Limpopo recorded the worst performance, with 78 out of 87 police stations failing to answer their phones. The Free State recorded the second-lowest reachability rate. The audit also identified several high-crime priority stations across the country that could not be reached.

Ian Cameron, DA deputy spokesperson on police, said the findings align with problems identified during a recent oversight visit to the 10111 Emergency Communication Centre. Officials at that facility reported staff shortages, communication challenges, outdated technology and ongoing difficulties contacting police stations.

The audit results highlight a fundamental service delivery failure. A police service that cannot be reached by the public cannot effectively fulfil its mandate to serve and protect communities.

The DA has indicated it will submit the audit findings to the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner, calling for immediate corrective action to improve public access to police stations nationwide.

SAPS has not yet commented on the situation.

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