A global Microsoft outage has disrupted access to essential workplace tools in South Africa, affecting businesses, universities, and government institutions. The disruption, which began on Thursday evening, has left users struggling to access emails, schedule meetings, and retrieve documents stored on Microsoft's cloud-based platforms. Microsoft's affected services include Outlook, Exchange Online, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and its artificial intelligence assistant, Copilot.
The University of Cape Town's Information and Communication Technology Services confirmed on Friday that Microsoft had advised users could experience difficulties connecting to multiple Microsoft 365 services. The university said the global disruption had been affecting services since late Thursday evening and that Microsoft was still working to stabilise its systems. This has caused significant inconvenience for students and staff who rely on these services for their daily operations.
The City of Cape Town also issued an alert confirming that the outage was affecting its Microsoft 365 environment, including email services, Teams, and OneDrive. The municipality said its information technology teams were monitoring Microsoft's updates but that there was no confirmed timeline for the full restoration of services. This has left city officials and residents facing challenges in accessing essential services and information.
Microsoft has attributed the disruption to problems with its infrastructure, including elevated server loads and unexpected server unavailability. The company has been working to restore affected infrastructure and redirect traffic through alternative routes. However, its recovery efforts have encountered difficulties, with some servers becoming unresponsive when traffic is redirected to them.
The scale of the disruption has been significant, with Downdetector recording nearly 130 000 reports of problems at the height of the outage. Users across different regions reported difficulties accessing Microsoft's products, highlighting the widespread impact of the outage. Microsoft has said it has no indication that the disruption was caused by a cyberattack.
Microsoft has reported progress in restoring some affected servers, although service stability remains a concern. The company has not provided a confirmed timeline for the complete restoration of all affected services. This has left many organisations and individuals in South Africa and elsewhere uncertain about when they can expect to resume normal operations.
The incident has once again highlighted organisations' dependence on cloud-based platforms for everyday communication and operations, and the potential consequences when widely used digital infrastructure becomes unavailable. As Microsoft continues to work on resolving the issue, users are advised to stay updated on the company's progress and follow any recommended workarounds to minimise disruptions.
Key points
- Microsoft outage affects Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft 365 services in South Africa
- Disruption caused by problems with Microsoft's infrastructure, not a cyberattack
- No confirmed timeline for complete restoration of affected services
