Melvyn Lubega is the man leading the Digital Service Unit (DSU) team within the Presidency, which is tasked with developing the MyMzansi app.
Communications minister Solly Malatsi demonstrated the prototype app earlier this year. It enables digital services, such as digital IDs and digital driving licences.
The demonstration was part of a larger prototype of the MyMzansi platform, announced in September 2025. Malatsi said it formed part of the country’s Digital Transformation Roadmap, launched in May.
Lubega is an entrepreneur and investor. He founded Go1, an online learning platform that he describes as “Spotify for professional learning”, in 2015.
The start-up achieved immense success and attained unicorn status in 2021, becoming the country’s first tech unicorn, or the first tech company with a valuation exceeding $1 billion.
Lubega grew up in Johannesburg and attended St John’s College, the high school from which he matriculated.
He was a highly involved student and a member of organisations such as the Johannesburg Junior City Council and the Model UN debate team.
Lubega participated in various sports at St John’s, including athletics, basketball, and rugby, as well as cultural activities such as singing in the Schola Cantorum Choir.
After high school, he enrolled in a Bachelor of Business Science programme with a focus on Actuarial Science and Statistics at the University of Cape Town, where he was again an actively involved student.
While at the university, he was a member of the University Finance Committee, the Commerce Students’ Council, and the Students’ Assembly.
Lubega also participated in various initiatives, such as Remember and Give and the Funda Maths Initiative.
However, his involvement went even beyond these. Lubega was Vice-President of the Students’ Representative Council, Head Student at Kopano Residence, and an Anglo American Open Scholar.
After graduating from the University of Cape Town, Lubega completed a Master’s Degree at the University of Oxford in education and public policy.
While studying, he participated in the College Rugby XV first division, the Oxford Union Society, the Oxford University Asia-Pacific Society, and the Lincoln College Rowing Club.
Founding a $1-billion start-up
Lubega served in various roles, including a summer consultant for the Corporate Council on Africa for two months in 2010, and as a director at SYH Investments from March 2009 to March 2012.
He also worked as a summer analyst at Goldman Sachs for eight months and as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group before moving on to launch Go1.
Go1 is an online learning platform that aggregates content from more than 250 providers into a single subscription.
Lubega’s LinkedIn page lists him as the director of Go1 from 2014 to 2023. He founded the company with his Australian friend Andrew Barnes. He describes Go1 as a world leader in online training.
He and Barnes had met as classmates at the University of Oxford and launched Go1 with some of their friends from high school.
“As a founding executive, I have had the privilege of building and being part of an amazing team focused on empowering organisations to offer world-class training,” he said.
“Go1 is a leader in online training and has been recognised on the Deloitte Fast500 list of the world’s fastest-growing companies, as well as the Disrupt100 list of the world’s most disruptive companies.”
He added that Go1 is proud to have received over $400 million in investment backing from Softbank, Microsoft, Salesforce, Seek, Oxford University, and Y-Combinator.
The start-up achieved its unicorn status while Lubega was still a director, becoming the first South African tech start-up to be valued at over $1 billion in 2021.
Lubega exited from Go1 in 2023 after nine years as a director. However, he has continued to serve as a non-executive director at the Adcorp Group and a partner at Breega, two positions he took on while directing Go1.
At the Adcorp Group, Lubega serves on two board committees: the Audit and Risk Committee and the Investment Committee.
“Adcorp is committed to making a positive impact on society by increasing employability and connecting people with job opportunities, and is best placed to do so given its capabilities and market positioning,” he said.
Today, Lubega heads up the Digital Service Unit (DSU) in the Presidency, alongside deputy head Richard Gevers.
The DSU was established in May 2025 and was a brand-new organisation at the time. It is responsible for coordinating and implementing South Africa’s digital transformation roadmap.
One of its key priorities is the MyMzansi platform, through which the government plans to offer services digitally. It also includes the development of digital IDs and digital driving licences.
Malatsi demonstrated the latter in early November 2025. The minister showed an example of the digital driving licence and demonstrated the in-app renewal process.
Lubega recently addressed reports based on remarks made by Gevers that a four-person DSU team developed the prototype.
He said that although he was honoured to be mentioned in reports about the system, many people were involved.
“The real credit belongs to the many departments and teams who delivered this together,” said Lubega.
“When government operates as one unified team, we unlock outcomes that no single entity could achieve alone.”
