Government is eyeing September as the deadline to move some of the projects within the digital public infrastructure reform from conceptualisation, to real-life implementation.
This is according to National Treasury, releasing the Operation Vulindlela phase two progress report, for the first quarter of the 2026/2027 fiscal year.
The reform implementation programme is a joint initiative of Treasury and the Presidency, aimed at accelerating structural reforms to support more rapid and inclusive economic growth.
Within the digital public infrastructure reform are several key pillars: data exchange led by Treasury, digital identity led by the Department of Home Affairs, digital payments led by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and a digital services portal.
The digital-adjacent initiatives include the MyMzansicitizen services platform, MzansiXchange pilot and gov.za platform.
Based on the report, during the quarter, implementation focused on establishing the technical and governance foundations required to deliver integrated, citizen-centred digital services while strengthening interoperability across government systems.
One of the critical next steps is to complete the establishment of the controlled environment and develop the MyMzansi pilot into a stable platform for production, said a Treasury official.
“The important part is around the hardening, especially for production, looking at areas of cyber security threats, and then of course how it works, including with MzansiXchange.”
MyMzansi is the platform through which citizens will be able to access public services.
The first practical MyMzansi use case will be the digital matric certificate credential, including issuance and verification, he stated.
“On this one, some of the pilot architecture, the various approvals and the way that verification will happen has now moved towards testing. We are working very closely with Umalusi, and from the side of the Operation Vulindlela team, we’ve been able to provide some technical support in that regard.”
On the gov.za platform, which is about rethinking government websites and how they speak to each other, the process has moved towards implementing the platform and system design with the first participating departments, according to the Treasury report.
“We have been able to confirm some of the institutional ownership, designed the shared platform and then also be able to share some of those system and reusable templates for the first pilot departments. Technical support has also been provided for the centre for those relevant departments, working with their technical teams,” said the official.
In the case of MzansiXchange programme, which is the data exchange for information to move freely across the government system, it is largely in the piloting phase, leveraging network and hosting infrastructure across the country.
On the digital identity cornerstone, various public consultations or regulations have been completed, according to Treasury. “The plan is to complete the remaining regulatory process and continue development of the prototype required to support secure remote access to digital services by September.”
Turning to digital payments, the official revealed Treasury continues to work closely with the SARB. “We’ve seen the development of the payment credential, the wallet and trust framework, which is progressing and will be plugged into the various services.
“The plan is to continue developing and testing the digital payment credential and wallet capabilities, including relevant government use cases, by November.”
The digital public infrastructure pillar is among the new reform areas that make up Operation Vulindlela phase two, with a focus on removing the administrative burden from citizens, explained the Treasury official. “It’s not about replacing any way that citizens access services, but rather augmenting them and giving them the option.
“For example, if someone wants to get a service online and they can do so, that rail and that option is open, just as the option to go into an office is also open.
“At the moment, some of the challenges are the fact that each department, each entity sees its own way of building services, and sometimes those don’t speak to each other, which therefore wastes money, and then also risks the interoperability piece.”
In terms of the return on investment and growth over the next five years of the Operation Vulindlela reforms, Treasury has indicated some are quite difficult to quantify and are long-term.
Aalia Cassim, director: regulation and competition at National Treasury, explained: “It was around 2% by 2029, which is aligned to the independent modelling by the BER [Bureau for Economic Research].
“Some of the reforms are at a conceptual stage and if you’re running or implementing a pilot, you’re likely to see implementation of full policy shift in the medium-term. Data is not easy to come by on some of these reforms, but we’re likely to publish a more comprehensive scenario in the MTBPS, including the digital, housing as well as the local government reforms.”
Looking ahead, the Treasury report states that plans are in place to support the roll out of citizen-facing use cases in the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the South African Police Services. These include digitisation of Master’s Office services, verified credentials in the transport eco-system, and modernisation of priority police stations to improve the citizen experience by next year March.
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