POLOKWANE – The effects of the national 10111 call centre strike are felt all across the country as the South African Police Service (SAPS) is making do with untrained personnel to man the call centre while the strike continues.
Employees of the 10111 call centre have for most of August been part of the nationwide strike action for a salary increase and are affiliates of the South African Policing Union (Sapu).
Read more: 10111 call centre staff go on strike amidst wage dispute
The Former National Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega, set up a task team to compare the salaries the 10111 call centre operators earned in comparison to their colleagues at other government call centres. These call centres included the presidential hotline, home affairs and the South African Revenue Service. The task team concluded its work on 30 April last year and recommended in a report that the salary for 10111 call centre operators should be upgraded from level five to level seven, or to R226 211 per annum. The report was sent to then Acting National Police Commissioner, Genl Khomotso Phahlane, for approval.
According to Sapu Limpopo Provincial Secretary, Thabo Mgadi, it was then recommended that the salary level be upgraded to level seven, but it was never applied.
“We need a solid reason why this salary increase was never implemented. Sapu, the CCMA and the national police office bearers are currently negotiating on behalf of the employees. We will continue to strike until our demand for better salaries is met,” Mgadi said.
He added the police colleagues of the call centre operators are feeling the added pressure of them being on strike as they have been manning the call centres.
The result of this is that there are now fewer police officers to patrol the streets which could possibly result in an increased crime rate.
“We hope the negotiations, which are ongoing at the national police headquarters in Pretoria, will be concluded for the benefit of both parties (Sapu and the SAPS) soon so we can return to our positions. The SAPS personnel manning the call centre for Polokwane and surrounding areas are not experienced to handle calls, which will be an inconvenience for the public using this service,” Mgadi explained.
He said as SAPS personnel have to respond in a certain time frame from when calls of complaints are received from the public, the service delivery of the police will show the impact of the absence of the employees specifically trained for the call centre.
Review contacted the Limpopo Police Spokesperson, Lt Col Moatshe Ngoepe, for comment on behalf of the Polokwane Police Station but he referred Review to the national head office. By the time of going to print no comment had been received.
