By Wardah Wilkinson

The new safety mobile app which has been called “Uber for police” is now nationally available. Namola, a free 24/7 emergency app is now available to be downloaded countrywide. The personal app which aims to ease the pressure on the 10111 emergency numbers, will link the user to the emergency services required.

The Namola app users are able to share the nature of their emergency together with their GPS coordinates and name and the agents will be able to pinpoint the user’s exact location and emergency to the call centre agent. This will aid the operator in alerting the caller’s details to the police, or any other emergency responses.

Yusuf Abramjee, crime activist and Namola chief ambassador, said crime is out of control and South Africans are living in fear.

“We know that sometimes we have good service from the police and we also know that 10111 are bogged down with technicalities, poor management and poor inefficiency. When you call 10111 or the police station, they will ask your full name and street name spellings and landmarks. All this takes valuable time in an emergency which could be life threatening. So we have done away with all that, by introducing Namola app which is available free of charge,” he told VOC.

The app has to be downloaded and the user only registers once. The Namola App now has almost 95 000 downloads and it was trending on the App Store for over two days.

The moment the user requires help in the case of an emergency, you simply alert emergency personnel of your situation with just one push of a button for 2 seconds. This app reduces the response time, and users will have a designated agent who will either respond via a phone call or via a messaging function, if the user is unable to speak.

Users will also be kept updated on the progress of the emergency services to their location. The app also provides the service of updating the user on the progress of the emergency services to their location.

Due to the high cost of a 24 hour call centre based in Stellenbosch, Abramjee said for the app to have gone national, Namola partnered with insurance company, Dial Direct and the SABC as the media partner.

“This will help to bring the police to account and reduce crime and for this reason it’s important to embrace technology.”

The app which is available on all platforms takes about two minutes to register and has daily crime statistics and safety tips.

“Listeners must be interactive and use the palm of their hands to fight crime. It’s the new crime fighting weapon; we cannot sit back. Let’s make a difference and see how it works,” said Abramjee.

For more, visit https://namola.com/