Ido Lekota looks at how siloed government digitization has wasted our greatest developmental asset
As we mark the 50th anniversary of June 16 this year, the anniversary of the Soweto Uprising that ignited a generation’s fight for quality education and dignity, South Africa faces a critical question about the future of our young people. Five decades after that pivotal moment, we have 12.2% graduate unemployment, more than double the 5.8% recorded in 2008. Yet our government’s approach to digitisation continues to sabotage one of the most promising job creation engines available to us.
The Department of Home Affairs’ digitisation project, which promised to recruit 10 000 unemployed graduates as data capturers to digitise 350 million paper records, exemplifies the systemic failures plaguing South Africa’s digital transformation. Despite receiving over 85 000 applications with 23,374 qualifying for interviews, the project operates in isolation, plagued by fiscal constraints, persistent SITA mainframe failures, and unfair labour practices where workers remain trapped on month-to-month temporary contracts rather than gaining permanent employment.
The fundamental shortcoming is that government digitisation projects operate in silos. The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs reported in April that the project has made significant progress despite challenges, but the reality is far more damning. The digitisation programme is fragmented across departments with no single budget line for digital government, no unified approach to digital transformation, and SITA systematically disconnected from the broader project.
This siloed approach represents a massive missed developmental opportunity. Enterprise architecture frameworks like GWEA (Government-Wide Enterprise Architecture), developed in 2009 specifically to address “disconnected government systems and information sharing limitations”, have never been fully implemented. The framework was designed to create interoperable ICT plans across all departments, ensuring integrated budgeting and systematic SITA coordination. Instead, we have departments like Home Affairs designing digitisation projects alone, with fragmented funding and no unified digital government strategy.
The Digital Economy Mission Plan (DEMP), which would theoretically solve these problems by creating digital skills and promoting transformation across vital industries, has not yet been formally approved by the National Planning Commission. Without NPC approval, the DEMP cannot mandate integrated budgeting across departments or override existing departmental budget silos.
International evidence demonstrates that digitalisation can be a deliberate job creation strategy, not just administrative efficiency. Kenya’s Ajira Digital Program, managed by the ICT Ministry, has provided digital employment opportunities for over one million young people. Bangladesh accounts for 16% of the global Internet freelance workforce, second only to India. India itself has 34% of workers on digital microwork platforms like AMT, while its DigiLocker enables data sharing across government services, creating jobs in digital infrastructure management.
Brazil offers perhaps the most compelling model for South Africa. As an early adopter of digital public infrastructure and leader in GovTech adoption from the Global South, Brazil combines top-down digital strategy with bottom-up innovation at the local level. The gov.br portal centralized access to hundreds of services with digital IDs for over 150 million citizens. But Brazil’s most powerful examples emerge from state and municipal governments. The City of Niterói deployed multichannel digital scheduling during COVID-19, enabling over one-third of the population to book vaccination appointments, now supporting childcare enrollment and social assistance—all accessible via app, web portal, and WhatsApp.
The State of Piauí launched digital participatory budgeting engaging over 160 000 citizens in voting on public works, allocating over R$80 million based on popular vote. The Federal Court of Accounts created citizen monitoring programs for road works where verified reports earn micro-rewards, reducing inspection costs.
These initiatives created thousands of jobs: digital developers, IT support, service coordinators, platform developers, civic tech specialists, data analysts, and GIS technicians. Brazil proves that digital public infrastructure can simultaneously solve job creation and administrative efficiency.
June 16 marks the anniversary when young people fought for quality education and the right to participate in their country’s future. Decades later, graduate unemployment has reached crisis levels, with over one in ten university graduates unable to find work. As it is government digitisation continues attracting applications at a rate of 10:1—85 000 applications for 10 000 positions—demonstrating the massive youth demand for digital opportunities.
The problem is that our government treats digitisation as administrative efficiency rather than developmental infrastructure. The McKinsey ‘Future of Work in South Africa’ report (2019) shows digitisation could create a net gain of up to 1.2 million jobs by 2030, with potential to create 4.5 million new jobs.
Technology-related gains could triple South Africa’s productivity growth, more than double per capita income, and add over 1% to real GDP growth. Instead, we’re leaving this potential untapped.
South Africa launched its Digital Transformation Roadmap in May 2025 precisely to address the silo problem, with SITA’s GovTech 2025 conference adopting the theme “One Data, One Citizen, One Citizen Service Journey”. The roadmap includes four catalytic initiatives: digital identity systems, data exchange frameworks to eradicate silos, digital payments systems, and a single digital services platform. But the roadmap doesn’t resolve the budgeting integration problem.
Here’s what government must do. First, implement GWEA as mandatory standard. The government must promulgate the Government-Wide Enterprise Architecture as a minimum standard, establish a GWEA Governing Body to coordinate validation and compliance, and create implementation guidelines for TOGAF-9 training. This creates the interoperable framework that departments like Home Affairs currently lack.
Second, create single budget line for digital government. The Draft Digital Government Policy Framework (May 2024) explicitly identifies fragmented budgeting as a major barrier. Government needs unified funding mechanisms across departments, rather than current fragmentation, with SITA as the coordinating body for all digital government funding. But, before giving SITA this mandate, the government must first save this agency from collapse by revitalising its business model, ensuring it remains agile, responsive, and capable of driving digital transformation through increased investment in capacity-building.
Third, formal approval of Digital Economy Mission Plan. The National Planning Commission must conduct the required review and formally approve the DEMP. Without this, the plan cannot mandate integrated budgeting or override departmental silos.
Fourth, convert temporary contracts to permanent employment. The graduates recruited for data capture must transition to permanent positions, not remain on month-to-month contracts. The pipeline of in-house digital expertise from new graduates to experienced professionals is essential to reduce reliance on external vendors.
Fifth, treat digitisation as job creation strategy. Government must recognise that digitisation is developmental infrastructure. The president’s interdepartmental working group on digital public infrastructure focuses on three pillars: digital identity systems, digital payments for employment and income-generating opportunities, and data exchange systems defeating silos. This approach must become the national default.
As we mark the 50th anniversary of June 16, young people still demand the right to participate in their country’s future. Graduate unemployment has reached crisis levels, but the government’s fragmented digitisation approach continues sabotaging one of the most promising job creation engines available.
Kenya, Bangladesh, India, and Brazil show us that digitalisation can be a deliberate strategy for mass employment. The evidence is overwhelming: 1.2 million potential jobs by 2030, triple productivity growth, a doubled per capita income. Instead, we have 10 000 positions fragmented across departments, temporary contracts, no SITA integration, and budget fragmentation.
The choice is clear: treat digitisation as administrative efficiency in silos, or as developmental infrastructure creating jobs. June 16 demands we choose the latter. The 85 000 young graduates applying for 10 000 positions represent not just unemployment, but the talent pool for building South Africa’s digital economy.
We cannot afford to waste this opportunity. Our young people deserve better than temporary contracts and fragmented systems. They deserve a unified national digital transformation that recognises their skills, employ them permanently, and builds the digital infrastructure that will drive South Africa’s economy for generations to come.
Ido Lekota is a media practitioner and an independent socio-political commentator.