Cape town: The Democratic Alliance's nationwide audit of 1,025 police stations has revealed that more than half of these stations across South Africa could not be reached by telephone. This audit assessed police stations in all nine provinces using the officially listed contact numbers.

According to Radio Pakistan, a total of 571 police stations did not respond to calls, while 454 were reachable on one or both listed numbers. This translates to 56% of police stations being unreachable, while only 44% managed to answer calls.

The audit highlighted that Limpopo had the lowest reachability rate, with 78 out of 87 stations failing to pick up calls. The Free State was noted as having the second-lowest rate. Furthermore, the audit identified several high-crime priority stations across the nation that were also unreachable.

These findings align with issues observed during the Democratic Alliance's oversight visit to the 10111 Emergency Communication Centre. Officials reported various challenges, including staff shortages, communication hurdles, outdated technology, and difficulties in contacting police stations.

An inaccessible police service hampers its ability to effectively fulfil its duty to the public. In response, the Democratic Alliance plans to submit the audit findings to the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner, urging for corrective measures to enhance public accessibility to police services.