Mbabane– Government has confirmed widespread disruptions affecting several critical digital services, including elderly grant payments, road transport permits, scholarship applications and the e-Visa system, following a report alleging that hackers breached systems at the Royal Science and Technology Park (RSTP).
The Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology on September 23,2026 acknowledged that several Government web-based services and digital platforms were experiencing ongoing outages, saying the matter was being treated with “urgency and seriousness”.
The ministry, however, did not confirm that the disruptions were caused by a cyberattack, nor did it confirm allegations that hackers had demanded a ransom to restore access to affected systems.
The confirmation comes after an investigative report by Swazi Bridge alleged that hackers had breached RSTP, which houses the National Data Centre, and demanded €1 million, reported to be approximately E19 million, to release systems allegedly locked during the attack.
RSTP’s own Government In Your Hand platform identifies the Park as its operator and describes the service as providing digital identity and payment services.
According to the report, the alleged breach had put a number of Government functions at risk, including licence renewals, Government payments and pension payments.
However, Government has not publicly confirmed these allegations.
Instead, its statement provides the first official acknowledgement of the scale of the current digital disruption, listing a range of Government services that are unavailable or experiencing problems.
Among the affected services are selected online services under the Ministry of Home Affairs, selected services under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, the Road Transport Permit under the Ministry of Public Works, the Government Scholarship Application under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and the Regional Development Fund Application under the Ministry of Tinkhundla.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s Office Elderly Grant Application and Payment service is also listed among the affected platforms.
Other systems experiencing disruptions include the Government website, AU Seed Summit Registration System, E-Visa Application, Deeds Registration and Information Management System, Integrated Financial Management Information System and the Ministry of Public Service Performance Management System.
The breadth of the affected platforms is significant because Government has increasingly shifted public services to digital platforms. RSTP’s Government In Your Hand platform, for example, is intended to provide official digital services including identity and payment-related services.
Technical team deployed
The ministry said a team of technical experts had been engaged to investigate the outages and establish the circumstances surrounding the disruption.
The team is assessing the affected systems and will provide technical findings and recommendations to inform the restoration of services and any corrective measures required.
Government did not disclose the identity of the technical experts, the cause of the outages or when all affected services are expected to be restored.
The ministry said it remained focused on restoring the affected services and ensuring that Government digital platforms remained reliable, secure and accessible to the public.
Members of the public who require services that are currently unavailable online have been advised, where applicable, to visit the relevant Government Service Centres for assistance and alternative arrangements.
The ministry also apologised to citizens, businesses and other users affected by the disruptions, acknowledging the importance of the services and the impact their unavailability may have on the public.
RSTP data infrastructure under scrutiny
The latest developments come at a sensitive time for Government’s data infrastructure.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg told Parliament that Government had applied to cancel a US$10.4 million, approximately E182 million, Exim Bank of India loan intended for a Data Recovery Site in Lubombo after the project failed to proceed. He said Government needed a functional primary data centre before establishing a backup facility.
Rijkenberg also said, based on the information available to Government, the facility at RSTP did not constitute a fully operational data centre.
The issue of connectivity and Government digital systems has already affected members of the public this month. On September 16, Times of Eswatini reported that a network blackout had disrupted services at Home Affairs and EPTC, leaving citizens unable to process applications and documentation.
The latest Government statement does not establish whether those earlier disruptions are connected to the current outages.
For now, Government has confirmed the outages and the deployment of technical experts, while the alleged RSTP cyber breach and E19 million ransom demand remain unconfirmed.
The ministry said it would continue monitoring the situation and provide further updates as the technical assessment progresses and verified information becomes available.
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