No joy from 10111 on Police Day
2010-02-03 07:15
Pretoria - A police reservist who was shot three times during a robbery at a home in Murrayfield in Pretoria called 10111 four times without getting any help from the police.
The attack on Sergeant Johnny de Jager, 52, a reservist at the Villieria police station occurred on Friday, the same day that about 50 000 police members celebrated national police day in Bloemfontein.
De Jager described on Tuesday how he and his girlfriend, Karen Victor, had told their story about eight times on Friday night to operators at the 10111 call centre - without success.
"They once asked if Murrayfield was in Johannesburg."
"Another time they said they didn't understand the (priority) code (which denoted the priority of a complaint) which I gave them. Additionally, they couldn't understand English or speak it properly."
'I'll kill you'
The couple had been sitting drinking coffee in De Jager's flat in a demarcated security area when they suddenly found themselves looking down the barrels of two firearms.
"One of them made me sit up and then hit me on the head. I looked down because every time I looked up, he hit me again. They also slapped her (Victor) a lot," said De Jager.
"He kept saying: 'I'll kill you'".
"He then put the revolver to my head and pulled the trigger. My ears rang. I looked for signs of flowing blood and legs going weak but there was nothing.
"I don't know how it happened but he only nicked the back of my head."
The two robbers forced the couple into the bathroom. In the mean time De Jager managed to untie his hands.
One of the men had thrown a duvet over Victor's head. When the other man came in, De Jager grabbed him and threw him against the wall. He then grabbed the robber's firearm, which had fallen into the basin, and fired a shot.
One of the robbers ran out while the other shot at De Jager and hit his little finger. They then started arguing after which De Jager fired another shot.
The robber shot back and hit De Jager in the arm.
Both robbers then ran away.
A matter of seconds
That's when De Jager's problems started with 10111.
"I remained calm and gave only the relevant information which would enable the police vehicle to reach the scene," said De Jager. "The operator said he didn't know where Murrayfield was."
"Situations like these would have a more positive result if the person at 10111 understood the information and could pass it on.
"It could mean a difference of 30 seconds which could lead to a suspect being apprehended or not."
After their fourth attempt to speak to 10111, Victor rushed De Jager to hospital.
A police member arrived at the hospital the following morning and told De Jager to call him after he had recovered.
Communications head of Gauteng police, director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo, said the allegations were regarded in a serious light and would be investigated.