South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) turns 30 this week, with the anniversary marked at iWeek 2026, the country’s longest-running internet industry gathering, which opened in Pretoria on Tuesday.
ISPA, founded in 1996, is hosting the 21st edition of iWeek, in partnership with the South African Network Operators Group (ZANOG), from 21 to 23 April 2026 at Irene Country Lodge in Pretoria, South Africa. The three-day gathering is free to attend and is expected to draw engineers, network operators, regulators, policymakers, and academics from across the country’s internet and communications sectors.
Minister Malatsi to address the conference
Solly Malatsi, the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, is scheduled to present on the industry landscape on Wednesday. Veteran ICT executive Andile Ngcaba is billed to speak on technology disruption and innovation.
Opening sessions on Tuesday include contributions from Professor Adewale Adedokun of the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), Mahen Naidu and Seshni Moodaly of Telcables, Portia Rabonda of Flexoptix, Donald Jolley of ZANOG, and Sasha Booth-Beharilal, the chair of ISPA.
Programme focus
This year’s theme, “Towards universal and meaningful connectivity”, reflects persistent gaps in internet coverage, cost, and performance for underserved South African communities. The agenda covers IPv6 deployment and migration, DNS, internet governance, regulatory updates, fibre infrastructure, and 30 years of peering at INX-ZA, the country’s longest-running internet exchange.
Pre-conference technical training, fibre network operator workshops, and updates from AFRINIC and event sponsors round out the programme. The format spans full talks, lightning talks, panel discussions, and experience reports aimed at internet service providers, small and medium enterprises, content networks, and infrastructure operators.
Three decades of ISPA
Founded in 1996 as the industry body for South African internet service providers, ISPA has operated through the liberalisation of the country’s telecommunications market, the build-out of national fibre backbones, and successive regulatory reforms at the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). The association has more recently engaged on continental internet governance matters, including the AFRINIC legal dispute and the 2025 AFRINIC board election, as well as the ongoing modernisation of South Africa’s internet exchanges.
iWeek 2026 runs through Thursday, 23 April at Irene Country Lodge. Registration and the full programme are available at iweek.org.za.
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