The introduction of an all-purpose emergencies phone number has been put on hold and the project's funding redirected to enable the provision of Wi-Fi across eight metropolitan municipalities. The 112 number would be dialled in all emergency situations, including those related to crime and injury or sickness.According to Siya Qoza, a spokesman for the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, technical problems with the 112 system had made the deadline for its implementation unachievable. It had then been decided to divert the system's funding to the municipal Wi-Fi programme.The existing emergency service numbers will continue to work.The department has made available R40-million for Wi-Fi in metro municipalities.Buffalo City and eThekwini have not been allocated funding because they have made no provision for Wi-Fi.The plan, according to the department, is to provide funding to supplement the metros' own Wi-Fi projects.Answering questions in parliament from the DA, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwele said his department and the Department of Health were exploring ways of funding the 112 emergencies service."Should funding be made available, the department would need to ensure that it is sufficient for the entire life of the project," Cwele said.Currently, dialing 112 from a cellphone takes a caller to a network service provider's emergency call centre.The number cannot be dialled from a landline but it is the government's intention to have the number functional on all phones, as the US emergency number, 911, is.At the moment, emergencies must be reported to a number specific to the service required if a landline is used.Crime emergencies are reported to 10111 and 10177 is used to call an ambulance or report a medical emergency...