Unmapped News https://unmapped.co.za/news South Africa’s stories, worked out from the data, by Unmapped Dataworks. en-za The hottest ground in your city: every ward’s summer heat, measured from spacehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/the-hottest-ground-in-your-cityhttps://unmapped.co.za/news/the-hottest-ground-in-your-cityFri, 13 Nov 2026 13:25:35 GMTHeatThe story behind our film: how hot the ground reads on clear summer mornings in every ward, the gap between the hottest and coolest ward inside each big city, why buildings read hot and trees cool, two Johannesburg wards seen from space, the El Niño summer of 2016, and what heat means for your health. How clean is your air? Nitrogen dioxide in every municipality, and its sources from spacehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/how-clean-is-your-airhttps://unmapped.co.za/news/how-clean-is-your-airFri, 13 Nov 2026 07:21:20 GMTAirThe story behind our film: a model’s estimate of nitrogen dioxide for all 213 municipalities in 2025, where it is highest, why the Highveld stands out, its biggest sources seen from space, what it means for your health, and how far a model can be trusted. 2026 local election results: 138 of 212 councils hung, and what happened in your provincehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/2026-local-election-resultshttps://unmapped.co.za/news/2026-local-election-resultsMon, 09 Nov 2026 09:12:21 GMTElectionsThe full results of South Africa's 2026 local elections from the IEC's files: the national vote against 2021, every province, all eight metros, which councils have a majority and which are hung, and the record wards. Is your tap water safe? Mostly. The sewage is another storyhttps://unmapped.co.za/news/is-your-tap-water-safehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/is-your-tap-water-safeFri, 06 Nov 2026 13:55:13 GMTWaterThe story behind our film: the government’s own ratings of 1,003 drinking-water systems and 848 municipal sewage works, why the Western Cape does so much better than the Northern Cape, and what flows into the Vaal. Nobody in charge: 81 of 115 finished councils hung, at 75% countedhttps://unmapped.co.za/news/nobody-in-chargehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/nobody-in-chargeFri, 06 Nov 2026 13:55:13 GMTElectionsThe story behind our film on the 2026 local elections, from the IEC’s results by 11am on 6 November: hung councils against 2021, the shift in the same councils, the metros, the record wards and what comes next. Not the final result. Same power, double the price: why your address sets your electricity billhttps://unmapped.co.za/news/same-power-double-the-pricehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/same-power-double-the-priceFri, 06 Nov 2026 13:55:13 GMTElectricityThe story behind our film: why towns charge so differently for the same electricity, the monthly fees that hit small users hardest, and who went up most this year. Local government elections 2026: the count as it comes inhttps://unmapped.co.za/news/local-elections-2026-livehttps://unmapped.co.za/news/local-elections-2026-liveThu, 05 Nov 2026 09:32:14 GMTElectionsEvery party’s share of the vote, the eight metros and each province, from the IEC’s results as they’re released, checked every minute. The same 500 kWh costs twice as much in Cederberg as in eThekwinihttps://unmapped.co.za/news/what-500-kwh-costshttps://unmapped.co.za/news/what-500-kwh-costsMon, 02 Nov 2026 11:32:28 GMTElectricityWe priced a month of electricity on every household tariff NERSA approved for 2026/27 that we’ve captured. Where you live can double the bill, and a low-use home pays more per unit in over a third of distributors. South Africa’s dams are fuller than a year ago, except along two coastshttps://unmapped.co.za/news/dams-fuller-than-a-year-agohttps://unmapped.co.za/news/dams-fuller-than-a-year-agoFri, 30 Oct 2026 13:34:44 GMTWaterStorage is up across the country, most of all in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are going the other way.