Big changes to South Africa’s R744,000 DigiTech website

South Africa’s Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) has been silent on its latest revamp of the DigiTech website, which has undergone a substantial redesign and received significant upgrades.

The website is now accessible at digitech.org.za. MyBroadband asked Craig Meyer, DigiTech’s contact person, about the costs involved with the latest revamp and why it moved from the gov.za domain, but we hadn’t received a response by publication.

In August 2024, Communications Minister Solly Malatsi committed to reviewing the DigiTech website and said his department was finalising the process of appointing a new service provider to manage the platform.

“The takeover will include the redesign, hosting, and maintenance of the platform to ensure that it delivers the high quality work it was established for as a distribution service for local apps,” he said.

“We will ensure that the new provider fulfils their contractual obligations to ensure that DigiTech fulfils its initial purpose and provides value for SMMEs and the public.”

This came after the department had received extensive backlash over its two earlier DigiTech launches.

The new website’s browsing experience shows significant improvements. We never encountered error messages or unpopulated pages while navigating, as was common with the previous two editions.

The new DigiTech website is presented in English by default. However, it allows you to translate it into Afrikaans, Sesotho, Xhosa, or Zulu.

“Digitech is a dynamic platform dedicated to showcasing the brilliance of South African small, medium, and micro enterprises in the ICT sector,” it says.

“Our platform is designed to uplift and empower homegrown digital innovators, giving them the exposure, resources, and support they need to thrive in today’s fast-evolving technological landscape.”

The redesigned website is a lot smoother to navigate than both earlier editions, and it lists 10 categories in its SMME directory:

• FinTech — five companies listed
• AgriTech — four companies listed
• MedTech — one company listed
• EduTech — six companies listed
• Telecommunications — six companies listed
• Logistics — one company listed
• Software Development — none listed
• Infrastructure — seven companies listed
• Platform Economy — none listed
• Robotics — two companies listed

SMMEs can register their companies on the platform to be listed. Each listing includes a contact person’s email address and phone number, as well as a brief description and the company’s website URL.

While this latest revamp is a big step in the right direction, the DCDT can still make several improvements.

For example, SMME website URLs aren’t hyperlinked, forcing users to copy and paste them into their address bar. Hyperlinking these URLs would be a relatively straightforward quality-of-life change.

However, one major aspect of the plan for the DigiTech website is missing.

When former Communications Minister Khubudzo Ntshavheni first announced the platform, she said it would resemble an app store through which people can quickly access SMME apps and products.

“The platform allows users to browse and download apps developed across operating systems,” she said.

DigiTech’s first two launches attempted to make this promise a reality but failed dismally, and the department appears to have abandoned its “app store” plans.

In its current form, the DigiTech website does not mention app downloads or include download links.

Grade 8 IT project

Ntshavheni launched the DigiTech website in May 2022 to celebrate World Telecommunications and Information Society Day, saying it would serve as a government-run digital distribution service.

However, the minister and her department received severe backlash not long after the platform went live.

Solly Malatsi, former DA spokesperson for telecommunications and digital technologies and current Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, slammed its design.

Malatsi said it appeared that the platform was developed by a high school student and highlighted the lack of download links and sufficient information about the products available at launch.

“This falls woefully short of what the Department promised for this website, and indicates a serious lack of skill in its design and construction,” he said.

In May 2023, Mondli Gungubele, who had taken over as Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies at the time, revealed that the department had redesigned the platform at a cost of nearly R744,000.

This prompted more backlash from the DA.

“The security of the new DigiTech site has been enhanced, and a new design has been implemented,” Gungubele said.

The website appeared to receive a slight visual redesign by May 2024, with very little else being done to improve it. By June 2024, it was inaccessible.

MyBroadband had asked the DCDT about it being offline on several occasions with no luck. It now seems that it was taken offline for the latest revamp.