Google today announced that Google Map Maker will be available locally. This will allow South Africans to add, update and share details about important places, including local hospitals, restaurants, schools, places of worship, walking paths, dams and more.

“We are excited to bring such an dynamic tool to South Africa,” says Luke Mckend, Google SA country manager. “Now you can help others explore the bike trail in your neighbourhood or include your local soccer pitch. Map Maker is also about improving existing information - indicating if streets have become one-ways or if road names have changed. You can also map hiking trails and add gravel roads that aren’t visible on existing maps. Once approved, contributions will appear on Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Maps for mobile.”

Users can join with other local mappers and use their local expertise to review one another’s contributions. The search giant also want users to subscribe to the Map Maker YouTube Channel, and join the team of citizen cartographers from across the globe as they continue to build the world map.

Google Mapswas officially launched in South Africa in October 2009, with Google Street View being added in June 2010. Google Map Maker is currently available in over 190 countries and regions.

The company also announced on its official blog that in the upcoming weeks, it will be offering offline Google Maps on Android devices, enabling users to browse the maps sans data or internet connection in more than 100 (as yet unspecified) countries.