A new audit has raised serious concerns about public access to policing services in South Africa after finding that fewer than half of the country’s police stations answered incoming phone calls.
The study, conducted by the Democratic Alliance (DA), tested the accessibility of South African Police Service (SAPS) stations across the country and found significant communication failures, including unanswered calls, engaged lines and disconnected responses.
The findings come at a time when South Africa continues to grapple with high levels of violent crime and growing concerns over the effectiveness of law enforcement resources.
According to the audit, only 454 of the country’s 1,025 police stations answered their phones, resulting in a national reachability rate of just 44%.
Crime Hotspots Among Unreachable Police Stations
The audit was conducted between 2 and 12 June 2026 and involved calling police stations located in rural areas, towns and major metropolitan centres during normal weekday business hours.
Researchers found that 56% of police stations could not be reached by phone. In many cases, calls either rang unanswered, were disconnected or encountered engaged signals.
Although stations that answered generally responded within ten seconds, performance varied dramatically between provinces.
Only Gauteng and the Western Cape recorded answer rates above 50%. The Western Cape stood out with a reachability rate of 75.2%, while Gauteng only narrowly exceeded the halfway mark.
The poorest performance was recorded in Limpopo, where only nine out of 87 police station contact numbers successfully answered calls.
Particularly concerning was the fact that several stations located in areas with high crime levels failed to respond.
In the Western Cape, stations in Atlantis, Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Elsies River and other priority policing areas were unreachable during the audit. Similar results were recorded at major stations in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, including Johannesburg Central, Hillbrow, Phoenix, Umlazi and Inanda.
The DA argued that these communication failures could have serious consequences for public safety.
Communication System Challenges Continue
The party said the findings align with issues previously identified during oversight visits to South Africa’s 10111 Emergency Communication Centres.
Officials reportedly highlighted ongoing staff shortages, communication difficulties and ageing technology as major obstacles to efficient service delivery.
These concerns have been amplified by recent developments surrounding the planned upgrade of the country’s emergency communication infrastructure.
In May 2026, Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi confirmed that an administrative error resulted in the expiry of a key tender process linked to the modernisation of the 10111 integrated management system.
The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has previously warned that SAPS lacks a unified national platform for managing incident reporting and dispatch operations.
According to SITA, multiple systems currently operate across different technology environments, while some software platforms are outdated and no longer supported by suppliers.
Despite the setback, government has insisted that the national 10111 emergency telephone network remains fully operational and continues to receive technical support.
The DA said it plans to formally submit the audit findings to the Minister of Police and the National Police Commissioner, calling for urgent intervention to improve accessibility.
The party warned that every missed call could represent a member of the public seeking urgent assistance and stressed that reliable communication remains a critical component of effective policing.
Source: Democratic Alliance audit, SAPS communications data, and statements from SITA and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies.