Sources
We report from official sources: regulators, departments, the Electoral Commission, the Reserve Bank, municipalities and the Government Gazette. Every story names its sources and links to them. Where sources disagree, we say so and say which one we used.
Numbers
Every number in a story is worked out by code from our datasets, and every figure in those datasets is checked against the page of the document it’s printed on. If a source contains an error, we keep the published figure, flag it, and say so.
Fairness
We don’t take sides. We don’t endorse parties or candidates, and election stories report the results the IEC publishes. We say plainly when results are provisional.
Independence
No one pays for our coverage. We don’t publish sponsored stories, and we don’t pay to promote stories about elections, government or politics.
Corrections
When we get something wrong, we correct it as soon as we know, with a dated note at the top of the story saying what was wrong and what changed. Every correction is listed on our corrections page. A published story keeps the data it was written from; when newer data tells a new story, we write a new one. To report a mistake, email hello@unmapped.co.za.
How we use AI
The voice in our films is AI-generated, and every film says so. Scripts and articles are drafted with AI assistance from numbers our code has already worked out from the data; a person reads, checks and approves every one before it’s published. AI never supplies a figure: the numbers come from the data.
Privacy
Our stories and maps use public, official data about places and institutions. We don’t publish personal information about private individuals.