I was shocked to read that the police are probing allegations that the people answering the 10111 number in Port Elizabeth are taking bribes in order to delay emergency alerts.  There are apparently claims that the telephone operators delay the dispatch of police vehicles or other emergency vehicles to the scene of the accident to allow the tow-truck drivers and private ambulance drivers who have made deals with them and bribe them, to get there first.  

In other words, they tip-off their paying contacts, who may be far further away from the scene of the accident, and then delay notifying the police and other sources so the people who have paid them can get there first.  Apparently, two-truck drivers and medics have confessed to the Weekend Post newspaper that they do pay the call centre staff to delay dispatching the police to the scene and the police are now going to investigate these bribery and corruption allegations.  It is a terrifying indictment of our society and of an obsession for material greed that would allow operators like this to put the lives of people at risk, so as to make an extra buck, and it is a frightening reminder sometimes of the stories one has heard, particularly involving some medical negligence cases at State Hospitals.