Survey shows that South Africans don’t trust SAPS 10111
Only 2% of South Africans will call 10111 first in an emergency. Private security (56,8%) and neighbourhood watch groups (40,7%) would much rather be called by most civilians looking for emergency assistance.
Action Society recently conducted a survey to determine whether people in South Africa trust 10111 as their number one emergency number. The results show that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is not trusted by most South Africans.
The survey (which is still open for participation) asked four questions to determine the extent to which South Africans trust or don’t trust the SAPS 10111 emergency number.
Participants were asked whether they have ever phoned 10111 in an emergency, where 55,2% indicated that they had.
The next question wanted to determine how long the participant thinks it will take the SAPS to arrive after making a successful call. Only 6,9% thought that it will happen within 30 minutes, whereas 16,4% thought that it will take up to an hour. Most people participating (38,5%) were of the opinion that arrival will take more than three hours and 38,1% reckoned they will never arrive!
On the question on whether crime is only reported to SAPS for insurance purposes, 64% of people admitted that they indeed only do it for that reason. People who make use of SAPS for other reasons as well were in the minority at only 36%.
A trust relationship between South African citizens and SAPS is crucial. If there is trust you have the community on your side; not only to share information, but also to help the police by being their eyes and ears. If this trust relationship decreases to the low level it currently is, you’ll see instances of vigilante justice in poorer communities. In middle-class communities people will rather approach a neighbourhood watch for protection and emergency assistance, and in richer communities more money is spent on private security,” comments Ian Cameron, Director of Community Safety at Action Society.
Various factors affect failing public confidence in SAPS: Non-responsiveness, corruption, the lack of accountability, ineffectiveness in handling crime, and a very big issue, namely the lack of ethical and competent leadership within SAPS.
“SAPS is an organisation whose core aim must be to serve and protect citizens, and currently they are failing miserably on various levels,” Cameron concludes.
