Cape Town - Since the beginning of December the 107 call centre in Cape Town has received 27 536 calls and 30.7 percent of them were prank calls, the city said on Friday.
“Prank calls are nothing new, but it needs to be said again: they are time-consuming and could potentially rob someone with a real emergency from receiving assistance timeously,” safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith said.
“We also know that prank calls are not the work of children only, so I’d like to appeal to families and communities to help us by discouraging this kind of behaviour. Ultimately, it could save a life or lives.”
Smith said December was a busy month with a spike in call volumes and prank calls keeping the call centre engaged.
Statistics showed an increase of nearly 8000 calls in December 2012 compared to November 2012 and January 2013, and the city was expecting a similar trend this festive season, he said.
In December 2012, medical emergencies accounted for 23 percent of the 57 406 calls fielded.
Sapa