One specialist who owns the whole picture
Most providers sit on one side of a line: either they support your computers, or they build your website. That line is exactly where problems hide.
Your email stops working after a DNS change, is that the web developer or the IT provider? The site is slow, is it the code, the server, or your office internet? With two suppliers those questions become a week of finger-pointing. With one, they’re answered in an hour.
You deal directly with the person who did the work, who already knows your setup, and who has to live with doing a bad job.
Sofire-IT started in 2020 when COVID pushed South African businesses online overnight. Since then: over 100 websites built, 40+ still hosted and maintained here, plus the day-to-day support that keeps offices in Pretoria and Centurion running.
No call centre
One number, one person, no first-line script.
Documented setups
Your network, credentials and backups written down, so you’re never dependent on one person’s memory, including mine.
Quoted before work starts
Nothing gets invoiced that you didn’t approve first.
You own your assets
Domains in your name, code and data handed over on request. No lock-in.
Everything from the domain name to the desktop
On-site across Pretoria & Centurion
Being local matters for IT support in a way it doesn’t for most services. When a switch dies, somebody has to physically stand in front of it.
On-site work covers the Tshwane metro, Centurion and northern Johannesburg. Remote support, which resolves roughly 80% of issues, is available anywhere in South Africa with no callout fee.
Try before you talk to anyone
Two things you can use right now, free, without giving me an email address. If they turn up something you’d rather not fix yourself, you know where I am.
Audit your website
25+ checks on indexability, titles, headings, mobile setup, schema, images and speed, results on screen in about ten seconds.
No signup. Works on any public page, including a competitor’s.
Check a domain name
Availability straight from the registry, plus the registration and renewal price , because the cheap first year is where people get caught.
Leave the extension off and I’ll check .co.za first.
Accounting built for South African rules
SoFinance is my own platform: invoicing, expenses, payroll, PAYE, UIF and SARS tax in one place, built for South African requirements rather than localised afterwards.
It’s also the clearest evidence of what I build for clients. Real users, real financial data, real consequences for getting it wrong.
- PAYE & UIF
- Calculated to current SARS tables, not approximated
- SARS tax
- 2027 year of assessment included
- Payslips
- Generated and emailed to employees automatically
- Medical aid & pension
- Handled inside the monthly pay run
- Cloud + desktop
- Works offline, syncs when you reconnect
Three plans, no hidden fees
Starter
Individual freelancers & solo professionals
- Invoice & quote builder
- Expense tracking
- SARS tax calculator (2027)
- Email invoices with PDF
- Customer management
- Analytics dashboard
- Cloud sync
- Desktop app access
Business
Businesses with 2 to 10 employees
- Everything in Starter
- Employee management
- Monthly pay runs
- Payslip generator & email
- PAYE / UIF calculations
- Medical aid & pension
- Document uploads
- Business expense tracking
Enterprise
Businesses with 10+ employees
- Everything in Business
- Unlimited employees
- Multi-user access
- Client portal access
- Priority support
- Custom branding
- Tax spreadsheet import
- Dedicated onboarding
All plans include invoicing, expenses and SARS tax calculations. Prices exclude VAT where applicable. finance@sofire-it.co.za
What areas do you cover?
On-site IT support covers Pretoria, Centurion, Midrand and northern Johannesburg, including Pretoria East, Hatfield, Menlyn, Lynnwood, Garsfontein, Highveld, Irene and Midstream. Remote support, website development, hosting and AI work are available anywhere in South Africa.
How quickly do you respond?
Typically within 2 to 4 hours during business hours (Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00 SAST), and often sooner. Remote fixes usually start the same day, and on-site visits in Pretoria or Centurion are generally same-day if you call in the morning.
What does IT support cost?
Ad-hoc support is billed hourly at a rate agreed before any work starts. If you have more than about five machines, a monthly retainer covering monitoring, patching, backup checks and a set number of hours normally works out cheaper. I'll quote both so you can compare.
Do I speak to a technician or a call centre?
You deal directly with Juan Du Plessis. The person who does the work and who already knows how your systems are set up. There's no queue and no explaining your setup from scratch every time.
Do you build websites as well as support IT?
Yes, and that combination is the point. Over 100 websites built since 2020, with more than 40 still hosted and maintained here. When email breaks after a DNS change, or a site goes down the same week a machine dies, one person owns the whole picture instead of two suppliers blaming each other.
Can you take over from our current IT provider?
Yes. I start by documenting what you actually have, machines, network kit, licences, domains, hosting, backups and who holds which passwords. Handovers regularly surface things nobody knew about, like an expiring domain or a backup that stopped running months ago.
Do you support businesses outside Gauteng?
Yes, remotely. Around 80% of IT issues, email, software, networks, hosting, malware, backups, are resolved over a secure remote session, and I have clients across South Africa. On-site work is Gauteng-based.
What is SoFinance?
SoFinance is my own South African accounting, invoicing and payroll platform, SARS tax calculations, PAYE and UIF, payslip generation and cloud sync, on three plans from R1 500 a month. It's a separate product from the IT services and has its own page.
Practical IT advice, written for business owners
Your backup probably doesn’t work
Most SA small businesses have a backup nobody has ever restored from. The 3-2-1 rule, what ransomware does to network drives, and a test you can run today.
Read →Does your web designer own your domain?
If your .co.za is registered in someone else’s name, you don’t own your web address. How to check the registrant in five minutes.
Read →Why your office Wi-Fi is slow, even with fibre
Paying for 200 Mbps and calls still stutter? The six causes I find most often in South African offices, and what fixes each one.
Read →Let’s sort out your IT
Tell me what you need and I’ll come back to you within 2 to 4 hours during business hours. Usually with a fixed quote rather than a sales call. You deal directly with me.