Microsoft, the technology and software giant, has disrupted big businesses in South Africa following a global infrastructure failure, exposing the country’s dependence on a handful of technology providers to keep everyday operations running.
Eskom, South Africa’s power utility, warned that its email services had been affected by a worldwide disruption to Microsoft Exchange. Domestic airline FlySafair said it could temporarily neither send nor receive emails, while Absa, one of South Africa’s largest banks, reported intermittent difficulties accessing Microsoft’s workplace applications.
“Eskom’s email services are currently impacted due to the worldwide disruption of the Microsoft Exchange service,” the utility said in a Friday post on X, directing customers to its telephone, WhatsApp, chatbot and USSD channels for assistance.
FlySafair similarly warned customers that the disruption to Microsoft 365 was affecting its email services, leaving it temporarily unable to send or receive messages. The airline advised customers to use its call centre and WhatsApp instead.
Absa said the disruption was affecting aspects of its Microsoft environment, with some employees experiencing intermittent difficulties accessing applications including email and Copilot.
“Microsoft is actively working on a resolution, and our tech teams are monitoring the situation closely,” the bank said.
The three organisations operate in vastly different sectors, but their experiences expose a growing vulnerability in South Africa’s digital economy: businesses, financial institutions and essential…
