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Software Developer CV example and template (South Africa)

Updated November 2026 · Written for South African employers

Software developers write, test and maintain the code behind banking apps, online stores, insurance systems and internal business tools. In South Africa the biggest employers are the banks, such as Standard Bank, FNB, Absa, Nedbank and Capitec, insurers such as Discovery and Old Mutual, fintechs (financial technology companies) such as Yoco and Luno, retailers with online stores, and software consultancies such as Entelect and BBD, which place developers on client projects. Many teams now work hybrid, two or three days a week in the office in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban, and some hire fully remote developers or work for overseas companies from South Africa. A tech lead reading your CV checks first which languages and frameworks you work in every day, then how big and how live the systems you built are, and then looks for a GitHub profile or portfolio with real code.

The example below is for an intermediate developer with about five years of experience, who studied computer science and now builds payment systems at a fintech. If you are newer, put your strongest projects near the top: a final-year project, an app you built for a small business or a project from a bootcamp or academy such as WeThinkCode_. Give each project one line on what it does, the stack (the languages, frameworks and database you used) and a link. Recruiters filter on keywords, so write the exact names, such as "C#, ASP.NET Core, React and PostgreSQL", instead of "various programming languages".

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Software Developer CV example

Riyaad Hendricks

Intermediate software developer, C#, .NET, React and AWS, 5 years' experience

083 555 0219 · riyaad.hendricks@example.co.za · Cape Town, Western Cape

Profile

Intermediate software developer with five years' experience building web applications and APIs in C#, ASP.NET Core, React and TypeScript for a fintech and a software consultancy in Cape Town. Works in two-week Scrum sprints with Jira, Git pull requests and automated tests, and deploys to AWS through CI/CD pipelines. Builds payment features that handle about 40 000 card transactions a day and is careful with customers' personal information under POPIA. AWS Certified Developer – Associate. Portfolio at github.com/rhendricks-dev.

Work experience

Software Developer (Intermediate)

Tafelberg Payments (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town (hybrid) | Apr 2023 – Present

Build and maintain ASP.NET Core APIs for a card payment platform that processes about 40 000 transactions a day
Cut the merchant payouts API response time from about 900 ms to 250 ms by tuning SQL queries and adding caching
Raised test coverage on the payments service from 40% to 75% with xUnit and integration tests
Moved four services to Docker containers on AWS ECS with GitHub Actions deployment pipelines
Masked ID numbers, bank account numbers and phone numbers in logs and test data to meet POPIA requirements
Mentor two junior developers and a WeThinkCode_ intern through code reviews and pair programming

Junior Software Developer

Bayside Software Consulting (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town | Feb 2021 – Mar 2023

Built React and TypeScript screens and .NET APIs for an insurance client's broker portal
Wrote SQL Server stored procedures and reports for the client's claims team
Worked in two-week Scrum sprints with Jira and Azure DevOps, closing about 12 story points a sprint
Wrote Playwright end-to-end tests for the main policy quote journey

Graduate Developer Intern

Bayside Software Consulting (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town | Jan 2020 – Jan 2021

Fixed bugs and added small features to client web applications under a senior developer's guidance
Learnt Git workflows, code reviews and automated testing in a working team

Education

BSc in Computer Science and Information Systems

University of the Western Cape, 2019, NQF level 7

Subjects: Computer Science, Information Systems, Mathematics, Statistics

National Senior Certificate (Matric)

Belhar Secondary School, 2016, NQF level 4

Subjects: English Home Language, Afrikaans First Additional Language, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Information Technology, Accounting, Life Orientation

Skills

C#, .NET and ASP.NET Core
React and TypeScript
PostgreSQL and SQL Server
REST APIs and OpenAPI
Git, GitHub and code reviews
Scrum and Jira
xUnit, Jest and Playwright testing
AWS (ECS, Lambda, S3) and Docker
GitHub Actions CI/CD
POPIA-aware data handling

Certificates

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, Amazon Web Services, 2022
AWS Certified Developer – Associate, Amazon Web Services, 2025

Achievements

Built an open-source React booking app for a Mitchells Plain community clinic, with code and README at github.com/rhendricks-dev
Won the company hackathon in 2024 with a tool that flags suspicious payout patterns

Personal details

Driver’s licence:: Code B (Code 8)
Own transport:: Yes
Nationality:: South African
Languages:: English (Home language), Afrikaans (Fluent), isiXhosa (Basic)
Notice period:: One month
Availability:: Hybrid in Cape Town or fully remote; on-call one week a month

References

Megan Fourie

Engineering Manager, Tafelberg Payments (Pty) Ltd

021 555 0147 · megan.fourie@example.co.za

Yusuf Parker

Tech Lead, Bayside Software Consulting (Pty) Ltd

021 555 0283

Software Developer CV summary you can copy

Change the details so they are true for you.

Intermediate software developer with five years' experience building web applications and APIs in C#, ASP.NET Core, React and TypeScript for a fintech and a software consultancy in Cape Town. Works in two-week Scrum sprints with Jira, Git pull requests and automated tests, and deploys to AWS through CI/CD pipelines. Builds payment features that handle about 40 000 card transactions a day and is careful with customers' personal information under POPIA. AWS Certified Developer – Associate.

Skills to list on your Software Developer CV

C# and .NET, including ASP.NET Core web APIs and Entity Framework Core
JavaScript and TypeScript with React for front-end web applications
Python or Java for back-end services and scripts
SQL with PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server, including writing and tuning queries
Designing and consuming REST APIs, with JSON and OpenAPI (Swagger) documentation
Git version control, branching, pull requests and code reviews on GitHub or Azure DevOps
Working in agile Scrum or Kanban teams, with user stories and sprints tracked in Jira
Automated testing, including unit tests (xUnit, Jest), integration tests and end-to-end tests with Playwright
Building CI/CD pipelines (automatic test and deploy steps) in GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps
Deploying to AWS or Microsoft Azure, using services such as Lambda, ECS, S3 and Azure App Service
Packaging applications in Docker containers
Handling personal information safely under POPIA, such as masking ID numbers and encrypting sensitive data
Monitoring and fixing live systems with logs, dashboards and alerts
Explaining technical choices to business analysts, testers and product owners in plain language

Duties written as strong bullet points

Built and maintained ASP.NET Core APIs for a card payment platform that processes about 40 000 transactions a day, with 99.9% uptime over the past year
Cut the average response time of the merchant payouts API from about 900 ms to 250 ms by rewriting slow SQL queries and adding caching
Delivered new features in two-week Scrum sprints, splitting user stories into Jira tasks and demoing finished work to the product owner at each sprint review
Raised test coverage on the payments service from about 40% to 75% with xUnit unit tests and integration tests, which caught bugs before release
Reviewed about 10 pull requests a week on GitHub and gave clear comments on code quality, security and tests
Moved four services from virtual servers to Docker containers on AWS ECS, with GitHub Actions pipelines that test and deploy every merged change
Masked South African ID numbers, bank account numbers and phone numbers in application logs and test data so the team met POPIA requirements
Built React and TypeScript screens for a merchant dashboard used by about 3 000 small businesses, working from Figma designs
Took part in the on-call rotation one week a month and fixed live incidents, writing a short report after each one so it would not happen again
Mentored two junior developers and a WeThinkCode_ intern through code reviews and pair programming

Tips for a stronger Software Developer CV

Put your stack where it is seen first

Write your main languages, frameworks, databases and cloud platform in your headline or the first line of your summary, such as "C#, .NET, React, PostgreSQL and AWS". Recruiters and applicant tracking systems (software that sorts CVs by keywords) look for those exact words. Keep the full skills list honest; if you only did a tutorial in a language, leave it out or call it basic.

Link to your GitHub or portfolio

Add your GitHub profile or portfolio link to your summary or achievements, and make sure the top repositories have a clear README explaining what the project does and how to run it. Pin two or three of your best projects. Never upload code, passwords or keys from your employer, because that can break your contract and the law.

Show the size and impact of your work

"Built payment APIs handling 40 000 transactions a day" or "cut page load time from 4 seconds to 1.5 seconds" says much more than "worked on the backend". Give numbers for users, transactions, speed, test coverage or bugs fixed wherever you can, even if they are rough.

Mention how you work in a team

South African banks and consultancies mostly run agile teams. Say that you work in Scrum sprints, use Jira, review pull requests and write automated tests. These show you can join an existing team and codebase, which matters more to most employers than knowing the newest framework.

Show you handle personal data responsibly

Banks, insurers and fintechs hold millions of customers' details, and POPIA (the Protection of Personal Information Act) requires them to protect it. If you have masked personal data in logs, used fake data for testing, encrypted sensitive fields or limited who can see customer records, add it to your duties. It shows maturity many junior CVs lack.

Questions people ask

What qualifications do I need to become a software developer in South Africa?

Many developers have a BSc in Computer Science or Information Technology, or a BCom in Informatics or Information Systems, from a university. Others have a Diploma in Information Technology from a university of technology, such as the Diploma in ICT in Applications Development at CPUT, or from a private college. Bootcamps and academies are a strong route too, such as WeThinkCode_, which trains young people for free and places them with employers. Employers care most that you can show real code, so build projects whichever route you take.

Can I become a developer without a degree?

Yes, but you need to prove your skills. A free academy such as WeThinkCode_, which takes people aged 17 to 35 with no coding experience for 16 months of full-time training followed by a work placement, or a MICT SETA-funded learnership or internship, can open the door. Build a portfolio of two or three finished projects on GitHub, contribute to open-source projects, and apply for junior or graduate developer posts at banks and consultancies, which often run their own graduate programmes.

Which programming languages are most in demand in South Africa?

C# and .NET and Java are widely used at banks, insurers and large companies. JavaScript and TypeScript with React or Angular are needed for web front ends. Python is common for data and automation work, and PHP with Laravel is popular at agencies and smaller companies. SQL is useful in almost every developer job. Look at the job adverts in your city and learn the stack that appears most often.

Are cloud certifications worth putting on my CV?

Yes, especially at companies moving systems to the cloud. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner or Microsoft Azure Fundamentals are good first steps, and AWS Certified Developer – Associate shows deeper skills. List the certificate name and year, but also give examples of what you actually deployed, because employers trust real work more than a certificate on its own.

What does POPIA mean for software developers?

POPIA, the Protection of Personal Information Act, sets rules for how organisations collect, store and share personal information, such as names, ID numbers, phone numbers and bank details. Developers help their employer comply by collecting only the data that is needed, protecting it with encryption and access controls, keeping real customer data out of test systems and logs, and reporting possible data breaches quickly.