Government plans to launch the “alpha” (pre-beta) version of its revamped central website this month, according to according to an update of the second phase of government’s Operation Vulindlela programme.
The www.gov.za portal acts as a central gateway to information on government services and initiatives. President Cyril Ramaphosa said during his state of the nation address in February that the state will invest in public digital infrastructure to give South Africans access to government services anywhere and at any time.
The update, from national treasury, said development of the “reimagined” website and content-management system is at an advanced stage.
“A cross-departmental task team is finalising the information architecture and design systems, and the alpha version remains on track for launch in November 2025,” it said.
Work has commenced on a national digital government standards framework, which will serve as the foundation for how its systems are designed, built and connected. These standards are central to enabling interoperability across government, reducing duplication and ensuring that new digital services built through the road map can be re-used and scaled over time, the update said.
Vulindlela’s digital service unit has completed a working prototype of MyMzansi, demonstrating a full digital driver’s licence renewal journey integrated with the national administration traffic information system (Natis). Treasury said this marks a key step towards a single, secure platform through which citizens will be able to access services.
MzansiXchange
In September, national treasury launched the first MzansiXchange pilot in Pretoria. This enables real-time, consent-based data verification between participating departments, marking the first live demonstration of secure data sharing between departments.
Further progress includes the department of home affairs establishing secure methods for remote onboarding and biometric data re-use, which will underpin functional digital identity pilots in the next phase. This will provide a basis for secure remote access to citizen services using a digital identity system.
There has also been movement on the payments ecosystem modernisation programme, with design validation underway for the government-to-person payments orchestration layer and beneficiary-preference mapping tool. The programme is the Reserve Bank’s flagship initiative to drive this transformation, aiming to enable fast, simple, inclusive and secure digital payments across South Africa.
Read Operation Vulindlela 2: digital IDs and easier visas on the cards
The next two financial quarters will see the migration of departmental websites and the implementation of zero-rating of network data to ensure access.
The pilot of the MyMzansi platform will be launched next February. A comprehensive institutional review of digital delivery frameworks will be conducted by March 2026 to clarify mandates, improve coordination and ensure a unified approach to implementing digital services across government. – (c) 2025 NewsCentral Media
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