The City of Cape Town has raised concerns about the number of prank calls received by its Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC).
According to the City, it has noted a 153% increase in
prank calls over the past four weekends. The PECC recorded 104 prank calls,
compared to 41 four weekends ago.
PICTURE: CoCTMeanwhile, 1 679 incidents this weekend, up from 1 424 the
previous weekend – calls for help included 118 cases of assault, 37 that were
related to domestic violence, 62 motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents, and
199 noise nuisance complaints.
Mayco Member for Safety & Security, JP Smith, called on
those guilty of this to stop as it hampers real emergencies.
‘’With the school holidays looming, the message is that
hogging the line is definitely not funny. Prank calls have trended upwards over
the past few weekends – an increase that is very problematic. These nuisance
calls hog the lines, and that extra time that a caller with a real emergency
has to spend waiting, could mean the difference between life and death, or a
criminal getting away. And, while many prank callers consider themselves
would-be comedians, some are downright abusive. The nature of an emergency call
taker's job already comes with a lot of trauma and stress, and so prank calls
really aren't as funny as the callers might think.’’
‘’In our experience, these callers are not always children
– sadly, many adults make themselves guilty of it. However, as we head into the
school holidays, I want to urge parents to please talk to the children about
the potentially serious repercussions that can come from meddling with the emergency
services,’’ added Smith.
Done by: Elona Sibunzi
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