In the wake of the rapidly increasing global geospatial industry, a shortage of registered GISc
professionals, as well as professional GISc registration challenges, have been reported in South
Africa. The suitability of registration categories and academic requirements for the type of work
performed by GISc professionals has also been questioned. This article presents results of a survey
by the Geo-information Society of South Africa (GISSA) to gain a better understanding of who the
members of the South African GISc community are and what they do at work. Such understanding is
important for the implementation of the new Geomatics Profession Act 19 of 2013, the development
of the South African Geo-spatial Information Management Strategy and the establishment of the
South African Spatial Data Infrastructure (SASDI). An online questionnaire was distributed and
responses analysed. Amongst others, results show that roughly a quarter of all respondents
switched to GISc related work later in their career. While individuals tend to focus their work on a
few of industries, application areas or disciplines, the GISc community as a whole is active in a
wide range of industries, application areas and disciplines. Qualifications that do not meet
academic requirements for registration are a significant barrier to registration. Most members of
the GISc community fulfil roles of data analysis and interpretation, together with data acquisition,
data management, and/or visualization/mapping. The research raises questions whether the
differentiation between the type of work performed by different registration categories is clear
enough; whether an additional registration category is required for professionals from other
disciplines who use GIS as a tool; and why many people who focus on remote sensing are not
registered as GISc professionals with PLATO. Survey results contribute to the understanding of the
supply and demand for GISc knowledge and skills in South Africa. Additional research is required
to better understand the demand and to identify prominent gaps in GISc skills and knowledge.