The persistent challenge of poverty in African countries necessitates a clear strategy for leveraging technology to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While South Africa’s policy embraces the SDGs, there is a noted lack of clarity on how data-driven technologies are being used to track progress, especially in purported smart communities. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the intersection of sustainability and resilience in smart communities, aiming to determine how data-driven technologies are used to monitor and contribute to national development targets. The study employs an integrated methodology, combining quantitative bibliometric analysis with a qualitative systematic literature review. The synthesised findings are mapped to the SDGs and WSIS Action Lines, providing a standardised framework for evaluation. The bibliometric analysis reveals that while 90% of reviewed abstracts use data-driven technologies, only 50% of the studies focus on long-term sustainability, and 40% explicitly address building resilience. The literature review highlights that sustainable and resilient initiatives adopt a human-centric, bottom-up approach, contrasting with failures of top-down projects. This research proposes a comprehensive evaluation framework structured around three pillars: Sustainability, Resilience, and Technological Foundation to assess a smart community project’s potential impact and measure its success over time. The findings offer an evidence-based overview and a conceptual framework for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers, providing a roadmap for leveraging data-driven technologies to foster more sustainable and resilient smart communities in South Africa.