Facing a Challenge to Access a Government Website? Here’s What You Should Know! -

In the early 2000s, websites with a gov.za domain were simple, well-structured, and user-friendly.

You could quickly ascertain the individuals in various positions along with their contact information. There was a consistent standard across government sites. However, today, these state websites have devolved into a disorganized maze.

Read:
Wild goats, open gates: Government websites are inviting hacking
Government claims its computer systems are secure: Our investigation shows otherwise

Here are a few examples:

Recently, GroundUp reported two separate websites for unemployment insurance applications. One of these simply sends your application into oblivion without any acknowledgment.
If you’ve tried to book an appointment online with Home Affairs for an ID or passport lately, you may know that the system might only accommodate requests made at odd early morning hours, perhaps while performing eccentric rituals to please the internet gods.
Which link corresponds to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform?
This one: https://www.gov.za/department-rural-development-and-land-reform
Or this one: https://www.dlrrd.gov.za/
If you assume the second link is the right one, be aware that Google gives priority to the first in its search results.
Home Affairs can be particularly confusing.
Is this Home Affairs: https://www.dha.gov.za/
Or perhaps this:
Or one of the numerous sites that appear when you search for “Home Affairs”?
Many government websites only operate correctly if you include “www” at the start (try accessing this or this to see the issue). For years, skilled web developers have ensured that users reach the same site regardless of typing “www” or omitting it. Correcting this is a simple task that shouldn’t take long.
Finding contact details for government officials requires determination, and hopefully what you find is up to date. For example, one page lists Gopal Reddy as the managing director of the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), although he no longer holds that title.
Sometimes, contact or feedback forms don’t function properly. For instance, consider the Department of Labour’s feedback form:
We can’t help but wonder who designed, implemented, and continues to maintain this dysfunctional system: Or how much this has cost taxpayers.
The security certificate for www.4ir.gov.za, the site of the Presidential Commission on the 4th Industrial Revolution, expired in February 2021—over two years ago. Perhaps the fourth industrial revolution will commence when someone finally renews it.

In the past week, we’ve pointed out that the state’s internet systems are fraught with vulnerabilities. This is likely due to a lack of maintenance and negligence by those in charge of upkeep.

And then there’s Sita

The State Information Technology Agency, Sita, which manages government IT, is facing significant hurdles. Established in April 1999 to unify and streamline the state’s IT resources for cost efficiency, it has notably fallen short of these objectives.

Since its inception, Sita has cycled through about 25 CEOs (with seven assuming the role since 2019).

It routinely receives harsh audit evaluations year after year, with typical remarks from the Auditor-General including:

“I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence for operating expenses due to poor record-keeping.”
“Effective measures were not implemented to prevent irregular expenditure.”
“I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that disciplinary action was taken against officials who had incurred irregular expenditure…”

We also looked at a few annual reports from government departments. Here are some remarks about Sita:

From Home Affairs 2024/25: “Sita data centre issues … negatively impacted DHA services nationwide.”
From GCIS 2024/25: “The department previously noted a strong record of paying invoices within 30 days; however, this was severely affected by capacity issues in order creation and payment processing, financial system downtimes, Sita downtimes, and internet disruptions …”
From the Agriculture Department 2024/25: “Underperformance on this project was attributed to delays in Sita project execution/implementation.”

A 2022 government-commissioned review is likewise critical, albeit phrased more courteously, of Sita.

Sita’s revenue over the last three years totaled R7.4 billion, R7.6 billion, and R8 billion. However, this is only a small fraction of the national and provincial government IT expenditure (approximately R97 billion from 2016/17 to 2020/2021, or about 5% of government spending). This is a significant amount, with websites being just a minor aspect of this budget.

When we asked Sita about which government departments they service, they cited confidentiality agreements. This contradicts public policy and established legal norms favoring government transparency.

Last year, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) criticized: “Sita has, for years, failed to achieve satisfactory audit outcomes or provide adequate support to various government departments, agencies, and public institutions. This has left them with numerous vacancies, insufficient IT support, outdated technology, faulty procurement processes, and critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities.”

Scopa chair, Songezo Zibi stated: “It is unacceptable that at a time when information technology is critical to financial oversight, governance, and operational efficiency, the sole agency tasked with supporting government is failing so significantly and for such a long period.”

Until June 2025, government departments were required to procure IT services through Sita, although annual reports indicate this was not always enforced.

Member of Parliament Tsholofelo Bodlani (DA) explained the context for this policy shift: “For too long, essential government services, from Home Affairs to Police and Social Development, have been ‘offline’, causing significant backlogs, as Sita lacked the capacity to serve all its government clients. … New regulations will allow departments to compare service providers and justify abandoning Sita if necessary.”

However, the issue extends beyond just Sita. As demonstrated earlier, the non-Sita portion of the gov.za network exhibits a higher percentage of security vulnerabilities than the segments managed by Sita.

IT is an area where the service provider possesses significantly more technical expertise than the client. This gap can lead service providers to mislead clients into overpaying and agreeing to superfluous services. Many clients lack the knowledge to assess the quality of the services they receive.

IT also provides fertile ground for unscrupulous individuals to profit quickly. Sita is embroiled in corruption findings and allegations. However, it is not isolated in this regard. The Sunday Times reported that an IT company financed lavish shopping sprees for Ekurhuleni’s former city manager.

It’s likely no coincidence that we found that over one in ten hosts on Ekurhuleni’s network have security vulnerabilities.

* In GroundUp’s upcoming article, we will suggest recommendations for enhancing government websites.