I know the project is just over 20 years old at this stage. I just thought that since I regularly use qGIS and OSM base maps, I thought it would be good to contribute. I am working in the Roodepoort area at the moment, but I am open to doing a targeted mapping effort if there are any areas of interest in South Africa.
Some things that I found interesting is the use of plots which can delineate ERFs (stands) that I am interested to see how that reflects on OSM.
I am from Cape Town (Norther Suburbs), lived in Pretoria North, but I currently stay in Roodepoort, so local knowledge of those areas are high.
I am curious to see how many active people are here.
I’m a user who occasionally maps Cape Town. I’m originally from Ukraine, but I sometimes enjoy contributing to mapping projects in other countries. In my view, Cape Town as a city benefits from detailed mapping, and thanks to the availability of high-resolution aerial imagery, which can be accessed through the JOSM editor, it’s possible to add very precise and accurate data.
Regarding ERFs — if I understand correctly, these are similar to cadastral plots or property boundaries. In OpenStreetMap, such data is generally treated cautiously. More emphasis is placed on mapping physically observable features, such as fences, gates, buildings, and other infrastructure.
Information about names is also important, including official, local, or multilingual names. There is even the possibility to add name origins and link them to Wikidata or Wikipedia entries, which can enrich the data and provide additional context.
@darkonus Thanks for your response. Noted on the plot data. I’ve downloaded JOSM after your comment. I am going to start playing around with it. I did see that the imagery for region that I am interested in mapping is a bit outdated. There has been quite substantial developments in the area, but I am sure I would be able to contribute in the Cape Town region.
Hi, I have very limited knowledge of OSM but want to use it in my Flutter Web/Android/iOS application. I live in Cape Town (Northern Suburbs) and found very limited data for areas like Langeberg Ridge and the surrounds. Have you done any work in that area?
I’ve done some occasional mapping in Cape Town, mostly focusing on buildings and other features visible from aerial imagery in areas like Bantry Bay and Sea Point.
In Langeberg Ridge there are roads and residential blocks mapped, but very few buildings, and almost no addresses, POIs, fences, or sidewalks. This is not unique to that area — it’s a fairly common situation across much of Cape Town.
If you’re interested in improving the data for your area, you’re very welcome to become a mapper yourself. OpenStreetMap is community-driven, and even small contributions make a difference. A good place to get started is the LearnOSM website:
I am normally mapping around Roodepoort (Where I stay). Mapping by yourself is a good way to get started. If you would like to set up a coordinated effort I would be happy to contribute, mostly through Arial imagery. What kind of map data are you looking to generate? Houses, Roads, Lakes etc?
Thank you for your reply. My main function is app development, not mapping. I am looking to use OSM API’s in a telecom networking SAAS app. Basically need buildings/houses tag data including street addresses and coordinates and roads of any area. It seems this kind of data is scarce in OSM but quite detailed in G**** Maps, at a cost of course. The app will mostly be used in the USA and even there I have found non-mapped areas. I’m currently testing least-cost options and will have to use the alternative if OSM data is not available. Have you tried any AI agents to automate mapping?
I haven’t worked with JOSM, just looked at some videos. I have been able to generate building outlines using the Overture plugin for QGIS. It seems to provide fairly accurate outlines in urban areas while rural areas might require some rework. A bonus is that you can export the overture data in geojson format which can be imported into JOSM. Maybe you could try it to see how it works in JOSM? The Overture addresses capability is however limited and I believe it uses OSM as it’s source, so if the data does not exist in OSM, Overture won’t find it. I will see if there are other API’s available for addresses. If you want I can send a sample geojson file containing the buildings data.
Regarding addresses, there are open datasets available. For example, the City of Cape Town provides a public street address dataset through its open GIS portal, which could potentially help improve address coverage.
Address imports require prior discussion within the community and need to follow the established import guidelines. Personally, I would be hesitant to carry out such an import, as I lack sufficient local context and am not familiar with on-the-ground realities in South Africa.
At the same time, the results of such an import combined with community mapping, sometimes called a “mapathon,” can be very good. For example, in the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy, the community ran a mapathon and imported address data, which helped make the map more complete and detailed.
Thank you @darkonus , the link you provided will certainly help to test my application after clearing some clutter. It is not my intention to do any imports to OSM as I lack the necessary mapping experience. I will merely overlay the data on OSM in my app. If needed, I can share any processed data with mappers who would like to do imports to OSM.
