Anaerobic digestion of organic waste is utilised in many countries to improve waste and resource management and to produce biogas, thus contributing to the sustainability transition. However, the production of biogas in South Africa has been relatively low, and the uptake of the biogas technology remains slow. This study uses a systematic literature review and technology innovation system approach to identify and analyse critical barriers influencing the uptake of biogas technologies based on the institution, technologies, economic, market, information, environmental, socio-cultural, and technical barriers (ITEMIEST barriers). The study found that critical system barriers influence South Africa’s biogas innovation system functions.