CIVIC TECH · PUBLIC DATA
Municipal Money
A public platform that helps South Africans explore and understand municipal finance data.
municipalmoney.gov.zahey, I'm Sihle
Agile product leader. Building useful digital tools.
Based in Cape Town, South Africa. I balance the big picture with the nuts and bolts: vision, strategy and user advocacy, alongside timelines, budgets and data pipelines.
Open to product, agile and programme leadership opportunities
CAPE TOWN · ZA
Sihle Makanya
Senior Agile Delivery & Product Leader
Currently
Senior Agile Delivery & Product Leader at OpenUp
AGILE DELIVERY✦
PRODUCT STRATEGY✦
CIVIC TECHNOLOGY✦
DATA FOR GOOD✦
HUMAN-CENTRED CHANGE✦
AGILE DELIVERY✦
PRODUCT STRATEGY✦
CIVIC TECHNOLOGY✦
DATA FOR GOOD✦
HUMAN-CENTRED CHANGE✦
SELECTED WORK
Products with a purpose.
press & hold a drawing
OPEN DATA · PLATFORM
Wazimap
A public data platform that makes local places, services and population information easier to explore.
wazimap.comPUBLIC HEALTH · GENOMIC DATA
AGARI
A continental platform supporting secure, sovereign genomic data exchange, stronger public health surveillance and compliance with privacy obligations across national jurisdictions.
Ask me about the workMEDIA · ELECTIONS DATA
SANEF Elections Portal
An elections dashboard and data portal helping journalists, editors and newsrooms tell accurate, evidence-rich stories about South African elections.
elections.sanef.org.zaDIGITAL DEMOCRACY · FUND
DDISA
A regional fund providing financial and technical support to civil society organisations building a stronger digital democracy across Sub-Saharan Africa.
ddisafund.orgTHE ROAD SO FAR
Strategy meets delivery.
tap a row for the details
Leading delivery across public-facing tools, civic technology, data platforms and programmes. My work spans product thinking, stakeholder alignment, facilitation and the practical rhythm that keeps complex projects moving.
ProductAgileCivic techData
Projects range from public tools and incubator programmes to data frameworks and co-design workshops, bringing together technical, policy, research and community perspectives around a shared outcome.
Programme designFacilitationChange
Managed the calibration contract with the South African Navy, leading requirements, scope, budgets, schedules, subcontractors and stakeholder reporting. Also served as contract manager for City of Cape Town tenders.
Earlier at InterCal: IT Computer Technician / Internal Sales · Sep 2010—Sep 2011
Contract managementBudgetsStakeholdersDelivery
Formal grounding in Scrum, complemented by hands-on agile delivery and a practical focus on making frameworks useful rather than ceremonial.
ScrumAgile deliveryTeam systems
Business administration, management and operations: the foundation for balancing teams, budgets, stakeholder needs and long-term product value.
BusinessManagementOperations
THE TOOLKIT
Big picture. Nuts and bolts.
the stuff I bring to the room
01 · DIRECTION
Strategy & product
Turning a fuzzy brief into a clear user problem, a shared direction and a plan people can act on.
Product managementUser advocacyDiscovery
02 · RHYTHM
Agile delivery
Creating just enough structure for teams to move fast without losing quality, clarity or trust.
ScrumPlanningBudgetsRisk
03 · EVIDENCE
Data & platforms
Connecting product goals to useful data, clean frameworks and platforms people can actually navigate.
Data frameworksPipelinesDashboards
04 · PEOPLE
Facilitation & change
Making space for the right conversations, then helping a group move from ideas to shared action.
WorkshopsCo-designChange management
SELECTED CREDENTIALS
PSM I Scrum.org
BBA MANCOSA
Agile LinkedIn Learning
A LITTLE MORE
Curious by default.
Calm in the complexity.
I believe there is always a creative route through a roadblock. Seeing a product evolve from a simple idea, through development sprints, into a tool that helps people make better decisions is what keeps me energised.
My best work happens with teams who care about the problem, the people affected by it and the quality of the solution. I enjoy working across technical, policy, research and community perspectives, and guiding groups toward that next breakthrough.
Let's compare notesHOW GOOD WORK MOVES
Listen↘
Align→
Deliver↘
Learn
Ask better questions.
Clarity usually arrives through conversation.
field note no. 04
Make the process feel human.
got a gnarly problem?
Let's make it clearer.
I'm open to conversations about product leadership, agile delivery, digital transformation and work that creates public value.