Arnold Phiri has spent over 35 years at the centre of South Africa’s most critical ICT environments — from public health and telecommunications to banking and financial services. Known professionally as “Ntate Phiri,” he combines deep technical expertise with the kind of executive judgment that only comes from decades of high-stakes delivery.

He currently serves as Deputy Director: Project and Programme Management at the National Department of Health, where he aligns ICT strategy with National Health Insurance (NHI) objectives and oversees port health and security systems. Before that, he held senior roles at Vodacom, SBV Banking Solutions, SABC, and Transnet — managing everything from product lifecycles and billing integrations to large-scale code migrations.

Arnold founded ZongeTech with a clear purpose: to build ICT solutions that are practical, sustainable, and genuinely useful to the people who depend on them.
He holds a BA in Information Science and Development Studies from Rand Afrikaans University and has completed MIT coursework at the University of Pretoria. He is a certified PRINCE2 Practitioner and a past president of the Vodacom Toastmaster Club.

“My mission is to empower fellow citizens by building appropriate, relevant ICT solutions that deliver sustainable outcomes for our nation.”