PATHLENSA RISKATLAS.CO.ZA PRODUCT · SOUTH AFRICA RISKATLAS.CO.ZA

Transparency

How PathLens derives its figures

Every published figure should be traceable to a public source, a documented transformation, an OFO occupation match and a dated evidence snapshot. PathLens does not treat a modelled or proxy number as an observed fact.

1

Collect

Public, no-login sources are collected into the backend evidence layer.

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2

Normalise

Titles, locations, salary periods and source fields are standardised without overwriting the original observation.

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3

Match

Records are mapped to the six-digit OFO occupation code with a recorded confidence level.

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4

Quality check

Duplicates, ambiguous matches, weak samples and exceptions are identified before publication.

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5

Snapshot

Once per month a dated evidence snapshot is created and held for admin review.

1

Occupation identity

OFO is the canonical occupation spine. Six-digit occupation metrics are only published where the record can be defensibly mapped to a six-digit OFO code.

2

Demand figures

Official demand signals such as OIHD are kept separate from observed public vacancy counts. A vacancy count describes the public advertisements observed by PathLens; it is not the total number of vacancies in South Africa.

3

Salary figures

Worker earnings, advertised-market salary aggregates, public-service salary scales and individual advertised salaries are stored as different evidence classes. They are not silently blended into one salary number.

4

Salary normalisation

The raw salary and pay period are retained. Where an amount is converted to a monthly or annual comparison value, the original value remains stored alongside the derived value and the conversion method.

5

Duplicate advertisements

Repeated vacancy notices are identified using identifiers such as department or employer, reference number, normalised title, location, dates and description similarity. Public metrics count unique opportunities where possible rather than raw pages discovered.

6

OFO matching confidence

A = exact or validated alias. B = strong title and task match. C = probable and requires review. D = ambiguous and requires review. X = unmapped. Only A/B records should feed automatic six-digit occupation metrics.

7

Sample size and missing evidence

A figure is not strengthened by hiding a small sample. Salary and vacancy outputs should carry the observation count, source period and geography. If the evidence is insufficient, PathLens says so.

8

Monthly refresh

The evidence pipeline is scheduled for the first day of every month. Each run produces a new snapshot with successes, exceptions and coverage statistics. New official publications are incorporated when available.

9

Review before publish

A completed monthly run is marked Ready for review. It does not automatically replace the public dataset. An administrator approves the snapshot before it becomes the public evidence layer.

Source freshness

What has actually been checked

Scheduled checks are not the same as completed checks
Every 6 months Statistics

Official statistical sources used by the Statistics hub.

Last completed check: 2026-10-01T11:06:40.526673+00:00 Latest completed source check found no changed source fingerprints.
Annual + 6-month inflation/source checks Master Data

Institutions, NQF, professional bodies, tax/ID/inflation reference sources.

Last completed check: 2026-10-01T11:07:00.001156+00:00 One or more official sources could not be fetched. 4 changed · 3 failed
Every 6 months Study & Financing

Funding-programme rules, policy and eligibility source monitoring.

Last completed check: 2026-10-01T10:32:06.642830+00:00 One or more official sources could not be fetched. 0 changed · 8 failed
Quarterly University tuition

Official university fee-source fingerprints and review-gated extraction candidates.

Last completed check: 2026-10-01T11:21:32.648210+00:00 One or more official sources could not be fetched. 0 changed · 6 failed

Source register

Current evidence inputs

Public sources only
DHET Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO 2021)Department of Higher Education and Training
Occupation identity: six-digit OFO code and official title.
Source ↗Planned
DHET Occupations in High DemandDepartment of Higher Education and Training
Demand flag and publication year.
Source ↗Planned
Critical Skills ListDepartment of Home Affairs
Critical-skills flag where an OFO occupation can be matched honestly.
Source ↗Planned
QCTO qualifications and occupational certificatesQuality Council for Trades and Occupations
Qualification or trade route linked to the occupation file.
Source ↗Planned
Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force SurveyStatistics South Africa
National and provincial labour-market context only.
Source ↗Planned
SETA Sector Skills Plans / hard-to-fill vacancy tablesSector Education and Training Authorities
Sector demand context and carefully sourced provincial notes.
Source ↗Planned

Interpretation rule

PathLens is a reference layer, not a census of every vacancy or salary in South Africa. Its figures describe the evidence that could be responsibly observed, mapped and documented from the stated sources.