Namola is Setswana for 'rescue'.
As a South African citizen, living in South Africa, this is a great initiative. Although it is has only initially launched in the greater Johannesburg area, it will be rolled out throughout the country.
"Namola is the revolutionary app that allows citizens to use their smartphones to share their GPS coordinates directly with the police. The first available officer is immediately directed to the citizen’s location while being monitored by the control room. Namola reduces the average dispatch time for police vehicles from over 2 minutes 30 seconds down to 13sec, an 11x improvement in speed. The goal is to provide South Africans with an easy-to-use tool to assist them in the war against crime.
Namola can be downloaded anywhere in South Africa, and currently only works in Gauteng. If you are outside the coverage area, the app will let you auto-dial [the] 10111 [emergency number]."
BrewSpoon