Welcome
Msizi Ndlela, WordPress Developer
WordPress Developer based in Centurion, South Africa, building for teams everywhere.
Know Me More
I'm Msizi Ndlela, a WordPress Developer who knows the platform from core to cache.
For more than eight years I have worked inside WordPress every day, from the database, hooks and REST API to the block editor your team writes in. I have built and run websites for the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the City of Ekurhuleni, where I migrated the metro’s website from Drupal to WordPress and helped grow it from 900,000 to 1.3 million visitors through better SEO, crawlability and accessibility.
I build WordPress the way it is meant to be built: custom post types and Advanced Custom Fields for structured content, child and block themes that survive updates, clean PHP that follows core coding standards, and admin screens that non-technical editors actually enjoy using. Behind that sits a full-stack background in Java, Spring Boot, React and MySQL, so integrations, APIs and custom tooling are part of the job, not a handover.
If you need a WordPress site that is fast, secure, accessible and easy to run, you are in the right place.
- Name:
- Msizi Ndlela
- Email:
- msizi.ndlela5@gmail.com
- Phone:
- +27 65 163 4567
- From:
- Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa
- 8+ Years building with WordPress
- 1.3M Visitors on a site I migrated
- 44% Traffic growth after migration
- 15 Professional certifications
What I Do
Everything a serious WordPress project needs, handled by one developer who understands how every layer fits together.
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Custom Theme Development
Bespoke block themes and child themes built on theme.json, patterns and template parts, so your brand is pixel-perfect and still updates safely.
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ACF & Plugin Architecture
Custom post types, taxonomies and Advanced Custom Fields modelled around your content, plus custom plugins when the job calls for real business logic.
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Migrations & Rebuilds
Drupal, static HTML or a tired old theme: content, URLs and SEO equity moved into a clean WordPress build, with redirects mapped and nothing left to chance.
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Performance & Technical SEO
Core Web Vitals, caching, image pipelines, schema and crawlability. The same work that took a metro website to 1.3 million visitors.
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Accessibility (WCAG)
Semantic markup, keyboard navigation and contrast built in from day one, so public sector and university sites meet their obligations.
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Elementor & Page Builders
When a team lives in Elementor, I build scoped templates and global styles that keep every page consistent and editors productive.
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WooCommerce
Online stores with local payment gateways like PayFast, subscriptions and product data structured for growth.
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Care, Security & Training
Updates, backups, hardening and monitoring, plus hands-on WordPress training so your staff can publish with confidence.
My Journey
My Experience
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Freelance · Ongoing
Founder & Lead WordPress Developer
Msizi Web
Designing and building WordPress, WooCommerce and custom-theme websites for South African businesses, from discovery and content modelling to launch and ongoing care.
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Nov 2024 – Sep 2026
Full-stack Developer
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Developed and maintained enterprise applications with Java, Spring Boot and React, including backend APIs, database integrations and authentication systems.
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Jun 2022 – Aug 2025
Web Administrator
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Designed, built and maintained university websites on WordPress and Elementor, and used HubSpot to capture student enquiries and understand which programmes were in demand.
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Oct 2021 – May 2022
Webmaster
City of Ekurhuleni
Migrated the metro's website from Drupal to WordPress hands-on, from build and testing to deployment, and grew visitors from 900,000 to 1.3 million through improved SEO, crawlability, indexing and accessibility.
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Jun 2019 – Oct 2021
Web Administrator (Contract)
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Built websites with PHP, WordPress, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, maintained MySQL and Linux/Apache servers, ran site migrations and trained staff to manage their own WordPress sites.
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Mar 2018 – May 2019
Software Developer (Internship)
Atom Foundation
PHP and WordPress development, MySQL and Linux/Apache administration, SEO, and traffic reporting with Google Analytics, Search Console and Data Studio.
My Education
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2024 – 2025
Advanced Diploma: ICT (Software Development)
Mangosuthu University of Technology
Software engineering at advanced level, including a student grading system built with ASP.NET and React.
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2014 – 2018
National Diploma: Information Technology
Mangosuthu University of Technology
Foundations in programming, databases, networking and systems analysis, with work-integrated learning at immedia building responsive WordPress and .NET MVC projects.
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2021
WordPress Specialist Certifications
LinkedIn Learning
PHP for WordPress, Custom Post Types & Taxonomies, Building Child Themes, WordPress Accessibility, WordPress Workflows, Site Administration and more.
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2018 – 2019
Further Certifications
Udemy · Edureka
React Fundamentals, Sass, and Automation Testing with Selenium.
My Skills
- WordPress Core, Hooks & APIs 95%
- ACF, Custom Post Types & Taxonomies 95%
- PHP 90%
- Block Editor & theme.json 88%
- Elementor Pro 92%
- HTML, CSS & Sass 95%
- JavaScript & React 82%
- MySQL & Linux/Apache 85%
- Technical SEO & Analytics 88%
- Accessibility (WCAG) 85%
Selected Work
Websites for universities, government and growing businesses. Click any project for the detail.
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Government · Migration
City of Ekurhuleni
A full migration of the City of Ekurhuleni’s public website from Drupal to WordPress, handled hands-on from build and testing to deployment.
Alongside the move, I focused on SEO, crawlability, indexing and accessibility, and the site grew from 900,000 to 1.3 million visitors.
- Client
- City of Ekurhuleni
- Role
- Webmaster
- Year
- 2022
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Custom Development · Higher Education
NdabaOnline
NdabaOnline is the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s newsletter publishing platform, built from the ground up on WordPress. A custom classic theme on the Underscores scaffold works with a tightly coupled companion plugin to run the full editorial cycle: four user roles with magic-link login, fixed story categories, issue publishing, and a multi-stage approval workflow where editors approve stories or send them back to authors with feedback.
Under the hood it reads legacy MSSQL data through PDO, uses FULLTEXT search, and caches story counts and archives with transients to cut database load. Newsletter previews export as clean HTML, ready to send to staff and students through Outlook. Developed through to the testing phase.
- Client
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Role
- Architect & Developer
- Year
- 2026
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Higher Education
UKZN Office of the Ombud
The website for the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Office of the Ombud, which supports a fair, respectful and accountable environment for students and staff.
Built on WordPress within the UKZN brand, it brings together the Ombud’s message, operating principles, services, forms and information sheets, and video and brochure resources, fully responsive across desktop, tablet and phone.
- Client
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Role
- Web Administrator
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Arts & Culture · Higher Education
JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience
The festival website for JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, hosted by UKZN. Built on WordPress so the festival team can keep programmes, artists and news current each season.
- Client
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Role
- Web Administrator
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Higher Education
UKZN CLMS
A University of KwaZulu-Natal academic website, built and maintained on WordPress with an editor-friendly structure that keeps information accurate and easy to find.
- Client
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- Role
- Web Administrator
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Business
Msizi Web
The website for Msizi Web, my WordPress and digital agency. A custom theme on the block editor, mobile-first, with WhatsApp as a first-class call to action and lead forms that qualify enquiries before they reach my inbox.
- Client
- Msizi Web
- Role
- Founder & Developer
- Year
- 2026
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Concept · Hospitality
Zula Beach
A concept build I designed and developed as a proposal for Zula Beach, a culinary retreat, cocktail bar and beach club on the Tuzi Gazi Waterfront in Richards Bay.
Built as a Twenty Twenty-Five child theme with Advanced Custom Fields, so staff can keep events and menus current themselves. It brings together table and function bookings, event listings with ticket links, a signature cocktail menu, a WhatsApp sign-up club, and one-tap sharing of events and menus.
- Client
- Zula Beach (proposal)
- Role
- Designer & Developer
- Year
- 2026
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Concept · Hospitality
Sindu Restaurant
A concept redesign I built as a proposal for Sindu Restaurant, a waterfront restaurant on Richards Bay’s Tuzi Gazi harbour.
Designed to turn visits into bookings: table, event and ticket booking flows, menu highlights with prices, jet ski experiences that can be booked with a meal, and phone, WhatsApp and email at every step. Built on WordPress with ACF, WebP images, SEO and social sharing tags, and a POPIA privacy policy.
- Client
- Sindu Restaurant (proposal)
- Role
- Designer & Developer
- Year
- 2026
Organisations I've built for
- University of KwaZulu-Natal
- City of Ekurhuleni
- Enactus UKZN
- Atom Foundation
- immedia
- Msizi Web
Let's Build Something
Planning a new WordPress build, a migration, or rescuing a site that has outgrown its theme? Email, call or WhatsApp me and I will get back to you within one business day.