THE national programme to institutionalise geospatial information management as a core pillar of South Africa’s planning, monitoring and evaluation system conducted a roadshow in KwaZulu-Natal last week.
The Office of the Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Seiso Mohai, led the provincial geospatial information management strategy (GIMS) roadshow at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in eThekwini.
In his address, Mohai outlined the strategic importance of GIMS in the current administration’s Medium-Term Development Plan and the broader national development trajectory.
He emphasised that “the planning environment and the use of data and the spaces for development” must be understood together, as development takes place in specific geographic locations where people live, work and experience daily realities.
He reiterated that “the plan doesn’t happen in space. The plan happens in various locations in a particular geographic space in the localities,” underscoring the need to understand the development needs and challenges of the places where plans are to be implemented.
GIMS therefore introduces a spatial lens to governance, enabling the state to see development not only in aggregate numbers but also in concrete places, communities and lived realities.
Despite progress in expanding access to basic services, infrastructure and social support, development in South Africa remains spatially uneven.
Mohai noted that many spaces are characterised by unemployment, poverty and underdevelopment, yet “there are people staying in those spaces,” and their conditions must be central to how government plans and allocates resources.
He stressed that government must “follow intelligent systems of planning and data capturing” in order to identify underserved areas with precision, target interventions where they are needed most, and monitor the impact of programmes over time.
GIMS seeks to confront the legacy of spatial inequality by ensuring that location, geography and place are systematically integrated into decision-making and resource allocation.
The roadshow represents the next phase of moving from policy to practice following the national launch of GIMS in September last year.
Through this Roadshow, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, aims to:
- Institutionalise and operationalise GIMS across all three spheres of government.
- Strengthen alignment between national priorities and provincial and municipal planning frameworks.
- Promote the adoption of spatial tools and systems in everyday governance and service delivery.
- Build technical and institutional capacity among provincial and municipal stakeholders.
- Enhance geospatial data governance, interoperability and the use of geospatial evidence for decision-making, monitoring and evaluation.
The programme includes strategic inputs, case studies from provincial and municipal partners, a live demonstration of the DPME Geospatial Enabled Dashboard and geospatial tools, as well as an interactive discussion session.
Mohai reminded stakeholders that DPME is mandated “to change the behaviour of how government does things, how it conducts its business.”
This includes influencing the culture of planning and decision-making so that spatial evidence, credible data and geospatial intelligence become standard features of government processes.
He indicated that where best-practice models emerge, “we would like it to be replicated elsewhere in the country of South Africa,” thereby strengthening coherence and equity in development efforts.
Collaboration with municipal professionals, experts and academic institutions is essential to refine tools, build capacity and support the uptake of GIMS across sectors and spheres of government.
A key pillar of sustainability for GIMS is the development of a robust skills pipeline within and beyond the public sector.
Mohai welcomed the participation of learners and students from diverse disciplines, noting that “learners being inspired also for career choice of the future” will help to ensure that the system can be sustained over time.
He highlighted the importance of drawing on “diverse skills as we require because there are science students that are here, there are different students that study around geography and so forth.”
Building this talent base will enable the state to interpret spatial data, design geographically targeted solutions and place projects where they can maximise development impact.
The Roadshow also seeks to deepen understanding of how GIMS can support existing national planning and coordination instruments.
The following conceptual integrations were presented for further discussion and refinement:
- The Medium-Term Development Plan can be integrated into GIMS by aligning spatial data with planned development priorities, enabling monitoring of progress against strategic objectives over a three- to five-year horizon.
- The National Development Plan can be embedded into GIMS by mapping long-term policy goals to geographic datasets, ensuring that national development strategies are spatially visualised and tracked across regions.
