ICT online crisis report delayed

The crisis response committee appointed to investigate the interruptions in online government services has not yet submitted its findings, despite the expiration of its tenure.

According to the Government Gazette published on February 13, the services in question are hosted or operated from the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP).

The 12-member committee, tasked by the Minister of Information, Communications and Technology, Savannah Maziya, was given three months to complete its investigation, beginning on November 1, 2025.

This followed a series of disruptions to critical government activities, including delays in executing the adjusted pay structure for civil servants.

Ministry of Public Service Principal Secretary Mthunzi Shabangu mentioned last month that “sinister forces” appeared to have sabotaged efforts to update the government payroll.

“While the team worked tirelessly to manually enter data for each government employee, the system experienced inexplicable breakdowns. It became clear that someone, or something, was working against us.”

However, Chairperson of the Task Team, Bonga Ndlangamandla, clarified that the report has not yet been submitted to the ministry, but emphasised that much of the work had been completed.

He explained that extensive behind-the-scenes efforts, including numerous meetings, were required to ensure a comprehensive final report.

“We haven’t submitted it, but we are finalising it,” he said.

The committee’s mandate included investigating the root cause of the service outage, covering technical, operational and security factors.

It was also tasked with assessing infrastructure, systems, platforms, and security measures (both physical and network-related), as well as evaluating the effectiveness of existing policies, procedures, protocols and work patterns.

Furthermore, the committee needed to examine the capacity of relevant operational teams, focusing on staffing levels and the necessary skills to ensure continuity, resilience, and availability of government services.

Ndlangamandla noted that the situation with online services had largely “normalised” as the committee had been actively monitoring it.

He also mentioned that recommendations had already been developed, with some to be implemented at the start of the new government financial year, addressing both short- and medium-term issues.

Throughout the three-month period, the committee was expected to report to the principal secretary in the ICT ministry, provide progress updates outlining findings, actions taken and recommendations.

Upon resolving the crisis, the committee is expected to submit a final report, including a comprehensive review and recommendations for future preparedness.

Crisis Response Committee Members
– Bonga Ndlangamandla – Chairperson
– Sakhile Dlamini – Member
– Kaizer Mngomezulu – Member
– Thulani Fakudze – Member
– Sinaye Dlamini – Member
– Ayanda Sibisi – Member
– Siphiwe Dlamini – Member
– Fulatsa Zwane – Member
– Kate Mamba – Member
– Michael Cebe – Member
– Nelisiwe Ndlela – Member
– Bongumenzi Dlamini – Member

Additional Context

The disruptions to government digital services raised concerns about the reliability and security of key state systems hosted at the Royal Science and Technology Park. The findings of the crisis response committee are expected to guide future improvements in infrastructure resilience, cybersecurity and operational management of government online platforms.