{"id":650912,"date":"2026-05-29T14:24:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:24:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=650912"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:34:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:34:26","slug":"new-operator-process-for-south-africas-za-domain-names-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/internet\/650912-new-operator-process-for-south-africas-za-domain-names-begins.html","title":{"rendered":"New operator process for South Africa’s .za domain names begins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The .ZA Domain Name Authority (.zadna) has started preparing to appoint the future operator for South Africa\u2019s commercial .za domain names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process covers the co.za, org.za, net.za, and web.za second-level domains, which form a critical part of South Africa\u2019s Internet infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.zadna said the process follows the scheduled expiry of its current five-year Registry Operator Agreement with the ZA Registry Consortium (ZARC) in September 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDue to the complexity and national importance of the .za namespace, early planning ensures sufficient time for a carefully managed, low-risk process,\u201d the agency stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authority said it would publish a Request for Information (RFI) on 29 May 2026 to assess market capabilities before issuing a future tender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RFI is not a procurement process and will not determine which company will operate the commercial .za domains after the current agreement expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, .zadna said it will use responses to benchmark international best practice, understand available technologies, and develop a fit-for-purpose Request for Proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting .zadna CEO Lerato Seema said the process was being started early to protect the stability and security of the .za namespace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe RFI is a non-binding market engagement process,\u201d Seema said. It will inform the development of a later RFP, according to the authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.zadna said all .za domain services remain fully operational, with no impact on domain holders, registrars, or related services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No decision has been made to replace the incumbent registry operator, and ZARC may participate in the process, .zadna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final appointment will only be made after the RFI has been completed and a competitive RFP process has been run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ZA Registry Consortium was appointed in 2022 to provide administrative and technical registry services for the commercial second-level domains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A second-level domain is the namespace directly below .za, such as co.za, org.za, net.za, and web.za.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stability paramount<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Vertical Movement of the Registry over time<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After analysing RFI responses, .zadna said it would develop and publish an RFP, evaluate submissions, and appoint a future registry operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authority said any transition would include detailed planning and testing, parallel run periods, and technical oversight to avoid service disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.zadna said performance and contractual requirements will also form part of the governance controls around any future registry operator transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The selection priorities include service continuity and reliability, cybersecurity and DNS resilience, infrastructure capability, compliance, governance, and support for registrars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.zadna said the process should support digital sovereignty, national resilience, local industry participation, investment, skills development, and transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authority said it would provide updates at key milestones and could invite stakeholder engagement where appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe objective is to ensure a smooth and well-governed process that prioritises service continuity, infrastructure resilience, and the long-term sustainability of the .za namespace,\u201d Seema said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The .ZA Domain Name Authority has started preparing to appoint the future operator for South Africa’s commercial .za domain names.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":650913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[19482,105606,19486,79740],"class_list":["post-650912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","tag-za-domain-name-authority-zadna","tag-lerato-seema","tag-za-central-registry-zacr","tag-za-registry-consortium-zarc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650912"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":650920,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650912\/revisions\/650920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}