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Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa must account for the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) findings that more than 1 in 3 telephone calls to police station numbers went unanswered.

In a study to gauge police responsiveness 1 116 police stations country-wide were phoned, which found that 35% of them went unanswered and 7.7% of the officially listed numbers were incorrect.

This undermines the fight against crime and threatens the safety and well-being of citizens and communities, especially during an emergency when people are in urgent need of help.

I will today be submitting parliamentary questions to Minister Mthethwa to determine whether the South African Police Service (SAPS) conducts similar regular studies. If not, we want to know why.

I will also ask him whether the SAPS intend to do anything about the study’s findings and specifically whether the SAPS will be rectifying the incorrectly listed numbers.

The Minister of Police must commit himself to improving the safety and wellbeing of all South Africans by increasing police responsiveness to citizen’s needs.