Nelspruit - Slow response to emergency calls to the police in Mpumalanga could soon be a thing of the past.
Emergency 10111 calls from across the province are to be directed to three control centres to address the communication challenges between the police and the community.
The new centres will be located in Secunda, Middelburg and White River.
"We want to improve the infrastructure at these three areas to minimise poor service delivery amongst police at the stations," said acting Mpumalanga Police Commissioner Rex Machabi's spokesperson, Superintendent Sibongile Nkosi.
She said the aim of the new centres would be to ensure quick call taking and dispatching of police officers to reduce delays in reaction to complaints.
Ms Nkosi acknowledged the current challenges with 10111 calls not being answered as well as poor police response to emergencies.
The call centre in White River will service police stations in the entire Ehlanzeni region. Calls in Enkangala will be directed to the centre in Secunda, while those in Gert Sibande will be directed to Middelburg.
"All three centres will run 24-hours a day and will be managed by dedicated trained police to bring better service to people," she said.
Once fully operation, the centres will serve the entire region by co-coordinating activities with communities and operational forces on the ground.
"The centres will be linked up with police members in vehicle patrol to speed up the reaction process," she said.
The biggest challenge facing police on patrol was that most houses in rural areas don't have stand numbers and are inaccessible.
"We are working with all three municipalities to address the issue and encourage home owners to assist us by numbering their homes and cleaning their driveways and roads," said Ms Nkosi.
