South Africa’s Department of Science, Technology and Innovation’s Research, Development and Innovation Roadmap emphasises that the pursuit of a National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy should be anchored on AI infrastructure to bolster economic competitiveness and socioeconomic impact. The roadmap outlines a strategy to integrate AI into public services such as healthcare, education, and government operations, aiming to enhance efficiency and address local needs. Despite the enabling AI policy frameworks, South Africa struggles to harness AI fully for effective e-government initiatives. This chapter argues that AI governance involves optimisation of the digitalisation of public sector processes. Doing so details an examination of South Africa's digital maturity and how they could position strategies for implementing AI solutions and governance environment by creating an effective regulatory framework. A digital maturity pathway could assist in identifying specific implementation AI strategies that government agencies can adopt to enhance public service efficiency and address socioeconomic disparities. This chapter shows that a lack of a dedicated digital maturity index undermines the creation of AI systems and governance, specifically for the public sector in African countries. To address this gap, this chapter leans on the Global Index on Responsible AI to assess the progress in leveraging AI for the public sector in South Africa. This framework allows for a nuanced evaluation of AI readiness in the public sector context.