HER-ZONE™
Geographic Intelligence for South Africa
A framework mapping every corner of South Africa with 79 integrated data layers. Built from South African government sources. Audit-grade. Traceable. Ready for decisions.
62M
People
52
Districts
22,000+
Communities
When a healthcare provider needs to understand disease burden in a region, when a pharmaceutical company plans vaccine distribution, when a government planner allocates resources: they all face the same problem.
The maps don't match the reality.
Provincial boundaries drawn in 1994. Postal codes from 1973. Census data aggregated too high to be useful. Commercial datasets licensed from overseas providers who've never driven the N1 in winter.
We set out to solve this. Not because we thought we could build something perfect. Because we believed South Africans should have geographic intelligence built from South African data, by South Africans, for South African challenges.
What HER-ZONE™ Does
A geographic intelligence framework that maps every corner of South Africa to operational zones designed for real-world decision making.
79
Integrated Data Layers
12 layers
Healthcare Infrastructure
8 layers
Disease Surveillance
15 layers
Demographics
10 layers
Market Opportunity
6 layers
Safety Indices
9 layers
Vaccination Coverage
7 layers
Outbreak Risk
12 layers
Access & Infrastructure
// A single query can answer:
- → What is the disease burden in this zone?
- → How does healthcare capacity compare to need?
- → Where are the gaps?
- → Which communities are underserved?
The insights are extraordinary. Patterns emerge that no single dataset could reveal. Connections between disease burden and infrastructure. Between demographics and access. Between risk and opportunity.
This has never been built before. Not at this level of integration. Not with this level of traceability.
Audit-Grade. That's the Difference.
Most geographic intelligence is a black box. HER-ZONE™ eliminates these vulnerabilities entirely.
The Black Box Problem
- • You pay, you receive data, but you cannot trace where it came from
- • If an auditor asks why a zone was assigned a value, you cannot answer
- • If a regulator questions methodology, you have nothing to show
- • If a competitor claims you're using their data, you cannot prove otherwise
The HER-ZONE™ Solution
- • Every field tracks to its authoritative government source
- • Complete audit trail: what changed, when, why, and source verification
- • IP-safe: no licensed databases, no scraped data, no overseas sources
- • POPIA compliant: zone-level aggregates, no personal information
Authoritative South African Sources
Municipal Demarcation Board
Zone boundaries
Stats SA Census 2022
Demographics
NICD
Disease surveillance
District Health Barometer
Health outcomes
HPCSA
Healthcare professionals
SA Post Office
Postal codes
When a pharmaceutical company needs to justify territory designs to their compliance team, they can. When a medical scheme needs to explain network decisions to the regulator, they can. When a public health official needs to defend resource allocation, they can.
This is what audit-grade means. Not just accurate data. Defensible data.
The Opportunity for South Africa
HER-ZONE™ started with healthcare. But the architecture applies to any industry that needs to understand South Africa geographically.
Healthcare & Pharma
Territory design, vaccine distribution, disease surveillance
Retail Banking
Branch network planning, market coverage analysis
Telecommunications
Tower coverage planning, network optimization
Consumer Goods
Distribution route planning, market penetration
Insurance
Regional risk assessment, claims analysis
Government Planning
Resource allocation, service delivery
The same framework. Different enrichment layers.
The same commitment to traceable, government-sourced data.
The question is: what could we build together?
An Invitation to Collaborate
We don't have all the answers. We're a small team that's built something useful, and we believe it could become something more.
If you work in public health
...and see potential for disease surveillance applications: we'd like to hear from you.
If you work in pharmaceutical distribution
...and understand the logistics challenges: we'd like to learn from your experience.
If you work in government planning
...and know where the gaps are: we'd like to understand what data would actually help.
If you represent an industry body
...and see potential for your sector: let's explore what geographic intelligence could unlock.
This isn't a sales pitch. We're genuinely interested in whether HER-ZONE™ can serve purposes beyond what we've imagined. South Africa faces real challenges in healthcare access, disease surveillance, and resource allocation. Geographic intelligence is one tool. We'd rather build it with people who understand the problems than build it alone and hope we got it right.
What We're Not Promising
We won't pretend this solves everything.
Geographic data is a foundation, not a solution.
We won't claim our data is perfect.
Some zones have better coverage than others. Some estimates use provincial averages where district data doesn't exist. We document limitations alongside capabilities.
We won't oversell artificial intelligence.
HER-ZONE™ uses straightforward methodology: authoritative sources, validated mappings, transparent calculations. The value is in the integration and the traceability, not in algorithmic magic.
A Conversation
If this resonates, we're open to a conversation. Not a presentation. Not a demo. A genuine discussion about what geographic intelligence could contribute to challenges you understand better than we do.
dieter@herbstteam.comHER-ZONE™ is developed by Herbst Group (Pty) Ltd, a South African healthcare intelligence and commercial operations consultancy.
We don't license overseas data. We don't resell commercial databases. We build from public South African government sources and document every step.