The Council for Geoscience completed a project in 2004 funded by the Department of Science and Technology, to create a South African Geological Hazards Observation System. The project aimed to create an inventory and database of known geological hazards affecting South Africa and developing techniques for the assessment of geological hazards using remote sensing data.
Geological hazards are naturally occurring or human induced conditions or phenomena that present a risk or are a potential danger to life and infrastructure. Potential geological hazards facing South Africa include coastal and beach erosion, terrestrial erosion ,deformation due to mining activities and water abstraction, geochemical hazards (natural or anthropogenic), landslides, problem soils (including shrink/swell clays and acidic soils), seismic activity, sinkholes, tsunamis and groundwater related hazards.
