“By introducing WhatsApp call as an option to our counselling service, we are hoping to reach a wider community that can’t necessarily afford the cost of a landline call but needs someone to talk to,” says Glynis Depper, vice chair of LifeLine Western Cape.
While the cost of calls to landlines in South Africa can range between 60c to R2.80 per minute, WhatsApp calls use less than 1MB of data per minute, which works out much cheaper for those who are on data plans. And since the Western Cape Government recently launched the first 50 of its planned 384 public Wi-Fi zones (where anyone with a Wi-Fi-enabled device has free access to 250MB of data per month), many will also be able to call LifeLine via WhatsApp for free.
Those wishing to make use of this new service will have to make sure they have WhatsApp installed on their mobile devices. Once they’ve added LifeLine Western Cape’s mobile number to their contacts, they’ll be able to call a counselor directly via WhatsApp.
During its initial launch phase, LifeLine’s WhatsApp call counselling service will operate seven days a week between 10:00 and 14:00, with a view of extending these hours within the next six months.