Emergency Contact Details in South Africa

To contact Emergency, call 021 480 7700 (City of Cape Town emergencies) or 0800 428 428 (Gender-Based Violence Command Centre).

In a life-threatening emergency in South Africa, call 10111 for the police, 10177 for an ambulance, or 112 from any cellphone. South Africa does not have one single emergency number, so which one you dial depends on what you need and what phone you are using. The national ambulance number is 10177, and 112 connects cellphone callers to an emergency operator on all networks. Private ambulance services have their own numbers: ER24 on 084 124 and Netcare 911 on 082 911. Each number below was checked against the organisation that runs it on 14 September 2026.

South African emergency numbers

Emergency	Number	Notes
Police emergency (SAPS 10111 Centre)	10111	24 hours. Free from a landline; charged at normal rates from a cellphone
Ambulance and medical emergencies	10177	National emergency medical services number
Emergency from a cellphone	112	Toll-free; available on MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom
ER24 private ambulance	084 124	National 24-hour emergency contact centre
Netcare 911 private ambulance	082 911	Emergency medical services
City of Cape Town emergencies	021 480 7700	Toll-free; the City also lists 112
Anonymous crime tip-offs (SAPS Crime Stop)	08600 10111	Not an emergency line

Ambulance number in South Africa

The state ambulance number is 10177. The Western Cape Government lists it as the ambulance number, and it is the national emergency medical care number used across the country, including in KwaZulu-Natal and Pietermaritzburg. From a cellphone you can also dial 112, which is toll-free and routes your call to an emergency operator. If you have a medical aid or subscribe to a private service, you can call ER24 on 084 124 or Netcare 911 on 082 911. Private ambulance services may charge you or your medical scheme; check your plan. For medical aid members, some schemes run their own emergency lines, such as Discovery 911 on 0860 999 911.

What to say when you call

Both SAPS and the City of Cape Town give the same advice for emergency calls:

• Give your phone number first, so the operator can call you back if the line drops.
• Give your full name and address, and the nearest street corner to the incident.
• Describe the emergency clearly: for a crime, the number of suspects, what they look like, whether they are armed and which way they went.
• Stay calm and stay on the line, and let the operator guide the conversation with their questions.

SAPS records every call to 10111 and gives the caller a reference number. Keep it. SAPS also asks people to use 10111 only for real emergencies, because misuse blocks callers in life-threatening situations. For less serious matters and general enquiries, call your nearest police station. Make sure your house number is large and visible from the street, so a responding vehicle can find you.

Emergency numbers for electricity

If you are an Eskom customer, report a power fault or outage on Eskom’s share call number, 08600 37566, or save that number and message Alfred, Eskom’s assistant, on WhatsApp, which gives you a reference number without queuing. Have your account number, meter number, pole number, address and contact details ready. If you buy electricity from your municipality rather than directly from Eskom, report faults to the municipality instead. For a fallen power line, fire or injury, keep away from the line and call 10177 or 112.

Crisis and protection helplines

Helpline	Contact	Run by
Gender-Based Violence Command Centre (24 hours)	0800 428 428; call-back *120*7867#	Department of Social Development
Childline (report child abuse)	116	Childline South Africa
Suicide Crisis Helpline (24 hours)	0800 567 567	SADAG
Substance Abuse Helpline	0800 12 13 14, SMS 32312	Department of Social Development, via SADAG
National Crisis Line (24 hours: abuse, bereavement, suicide)	0861 322 322	Listed by the South African Government
Poisons Information Helpline of the Western Cape	0861 555 777	Listed by the Western Cape Government

The GBV Command Centre connects callers to a social worker for help and counselling and can refer calls to SAPS. Dialling *120*7867# from a cellphone is free and asks a social worker to call you back. Government has also announced an SMS line for people with disabilities: SMS “help” to 31531.

Emergency response and rescue services

The Western Cape Government lists further emergency response numbers for the province: the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) on 087 094 9774, Cape Town Sea and Mountain Rescue on 021 449 3500, Wilderness Search and Rescue on 021 937 0300, the Disaster Risk Management Centre on 080 911 4357, and the Bureau of Missing Persons on 021 918 3512. In Cape Town, the City’s toll-free emergency number 021 480 7700 directs your call to police, fire or ambulance services, and the same number reaches the Metropolitan Police. Cable theft can be reported to the City’s 24-hour hotline on 0800 222 771.

If help does not arrive

Call again, quote the reference number you were given, and ask for an update. For a police emergency that was not attended to, escalate to the station commander at your nearest police station. Complaints about police conduct go to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, which is separate from SAPS. The best preparation is simple: save 10111, 10177, 112 and your nearest police station in your phone, and keep them somewhere visible at home.

Sources

• SAPS 10111 Centre page, saps.gov.za, read 14 September 2026
• Western Cape Government, Know who you can call in an emergency, westerncape.gov.za, read 14 September 2026
• City of Cape Town, Emergency contact numbers, capetown.gov.za, read 14 September 2026
• South African Government, Government call centres and help lines, gov.za; SAnews on the GBV Command Centre, read 14 September 2026
• ER24 contact page, er24.co.za; Netcare 911 page, netcare.co.za; SADAG helplines, sadag.org; Eskom Distribution contact us, eskom.co.za, all read 14 September 2026