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Nelson Mandela Bay residents ‘thrown to the wolves’ after rolling blackouts knock out 10111 call centre

Nelson Mandela Bay residents ‘thrown to the wolves’ after rolling blackouts knock out 10111 call centre
The mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay has been requested to ask that the metro’s 10111 call centre be exempted from rolling blackouts.

It takes the 10111 call centre in Nelson Mandela Bay up to 45 minutes to get back online after load shedding, the MEC for community safety and transport, Xolile Nqatha, said in the provincial legislature. 

Nqatha said a bout of rolling blackouts in mid-September had destroyed the centre’s UPS (uninterrupted power supply) system, taking the Global Emergency Command and Control Centre System offline.  

The centre is rendered inoperable during a power blackout.  

“The residents of Nelson Mandela Bay have been thrown to the wolves, with no recourse to help from the SAPS,” said the Democratic Alliance’s Bobby Stevenson, who raised the issue in the provincial legislature.  




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Nqatha said that on 16 September, unrelenting rolling blackouts had caused the centre’s Global Emergency Command and Control Centre System to fail, and all calls had to be dealt with by filling in forms, leaving callers without reference numbers.  

“The UPS room has to procure [a new system] and, according to Radio Technical, the cost is R4-million,” he added. 

Nqatha said they urgently need more staff as the centre has a total of 71 members employed on shifts, but due to sick leave or vacation leave, there are only ever six people available to answer phone calls.  

“The failure to answer calls is potentially life-threatening to people in danger from the criminal onslaught,” Stevenson said. 

He has written to the Nelson Mandela Bay mayor, Retief Odendaal, to ask that the municipality looks at ways to prevent rolling blackouts at the centre, as it is an emergency service with a critical role in ensuring residents’ safety. DM/MC