By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) confirmed that planned maintenance to its internet services environment is progressing well, in line with the schedule.
The maintenance commenced at 17:00 on Friday, 23 October 2026 as part of SITA’s migration to a new Internet service provider in an effort to strengthen the security and stability of its network.
“Due to the number of institutions and services that depend on this environment, the work has been classified as a significant change,” SITA said in an announcement on Sunday.
“Until the work is completed, affected departments/clients may experience intermittent disruptions or availability during this period.”
Government departments may experience Internet connectivity issues, email problems, and problems with their web services.
They may also experience problems with transversal services, including BAS and Logis; inter-VPN and remote VPN services; and services associated with the .gov.za domain.
The agency said that it engaged directly with all affected national and provincial government departments, public entities, municipalities and institutions before the maintenance work began.
It informed them of the planned maintenance window and its potential impacts so they could plan ahead and put continuity measures in place, SITA said.
“Dedicated SITA technical teams, working with the relevant service providers and client institutions, are monitoring the implementation throughout the maintenance period,” the agency said.
“SITA has a critical responsibility to maintain a secure, stable and resilient ICT environment in support of government.”
It said that the maintenance was part of the technical work required to strengthen South Africa’s public ICT environment.
Tlali Tlali, head of SITA’s corporate affairs department, said that the maintenance was proceeding in a controlled manner and remained on schedule.
Services are expected to be restored fully by 17:00 on Sunday, 25 October 2026. This would mean that a three-day maintenance window was set aside for the migration to a new provider, he said.
SITA said it was aware of the global PHP situation and was actively implementing necessary measures to address vulnerabilities and secure SITA-supported websites.
SITA appreciates the cooperation of its client institutions and regrets any inconvenience caused. A further update will be issued should there be any material change to the schedule or to the expected restoration of services.