Africa’s leaders in geospatial science and information solutions, recently hosted their first virtual Data and Spatial Workshop.
As we navigate through these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, AfriGIS continues to unlock potential location-based solutions in adapting to unique challenges and going beyond geography to make the connections that no one else sees.
Speakers:
Christopher Ueckermann – Data Manager (AfriGIS)
Prof. Serena Coetzee – HOD – Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology (University of Pretoria)
Marius Cronje – Chief Information Officer (AfriGIS)
What rapid-response spatial intelligence knew before the Garden Route flooded again South Africa's Garden Route was hit by two cutoff low storms within a month, the second in early June 2026 bringing up to 200mm of rain across an already-satur…South Africa's Garden Route was hit by two cutoff low storms within a month, the second in early June 2026 bringing up to 200mm of rain across an already-saturated region with dams at full capacity, May's temporary road repairs still in place, and the N1 at Leeu Gamka eventually closing. Before that second storm peaked, AfriGIS had already used just four rapidly integrated spatial data layers roads, rivers, informal settlement locations, and storm warning data to identify 22 of the Garden Route's 209 informal settlements at extreme risk of losing all physical access, with Kannaland and George carrying 16 of those, enabling disaster management teams to pre-position resources and plan evacuation routes before conditions peaked. The deeper argument is that the same four-layer foundation becomes substantially more powerful with each additional dataset layered onto it: add deeds and cadastre data and an insurer can move to parcel-level flood underwriting; add CIPC business data and you can quantify revenue disruption, not just building damage; layer in infrastructure assets and Transnet, Sanral, and Eskom can each see where their balance-sheet exposure becomes critical. AfriGIS positions this building-block quality backed by 28 years of authoritative, never-crowdsourced verified data as the foundation for what national-scale spatial preparedness could deliver as SA's rainfall season runs through November.
What rapid-response spatial intelligence knew before the Garden Route flooded again South Africa's Garden Route was hit by two cutoff low storms within a month, the second in early June 2026 bringing up to 200mm of rain across an already-satur…South Africa's Garden Route was hit by two cutoff low storms within a month, the second in early June 2026 bringing up to 200mm of rain across an already-saturated region with dams at full capacity, May's temporary road repairs still in place, and the N1 at Leeu Gamka eventually closing. Before that second storm peaked, AfriGIS had already used just four rapidly integrated spatial data layers roads, rivers, informal settlement locations, and storm warning data to identify 22 of the Garden Route's 209 informal settlements at extreme risk of losing all physical access, with Kannaland and George carrying 16 of those, enabling disaster management teams to pre-position resources and plan evacuation routes before conditions peaked. The deeper argument is that the same four-layer foundation becomes substantially more powerful with each additional dataset layered onto it: add deeds and cadastre data and an insurer can move to parcel-level flood underwriting; add CIPC business data and you can quantify revenue disruption, not just building damage; layer in infrastructure assets and Transnet, Sanral, and Eskom can each see where their balance-sheet exposure becomes critical. AfriGIS positions this building-block quality backed by 28 years of authoritative, never-crowdsourced verified data as the foundation for what national-scale spatial preparedness could deliver as SA's rainfall season runs through November.
