About
Gift Banda
I’m a Software Developer focused on building cloud‑native, event‑driven systems that are
reliable, scalable, and easy to
maintain. I’m proud of my Computer Science qualifications, but I prefer to define myself by what
I
can ship: solving real
problems, improving performance, and delivering software that users and businesses actually
feel.
I currently work as a Software Developer at Standard Bank Group, where I design, build, and maintain full‑stack enterprise web applications used by thousands of clients. My work ranges from adding new features and refactoring legacy codebases, to designing CI/CD pipelines and leading migrations from on‑premise systems to AWS (ECS) to improve scalability and cost efficiency. I also strengthen application security by addressing penetration test findings and ensuring systems stay available and stable through proactive monitoring and troubleshooting.
My tech stack includes Angular, JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, and CSS on the front end, and Java, Node.js, and Golang on the back end. I build distributed, event‑driven architectures with Kafka, work with relational and NoSQL databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB, and use tools such as Docker, GitLab CI/CD, OpenShift, Terraform, REST, and SOAP services in my day‑to‑day work.
I’m 2x AWS (soon 3x), 2x Azure, and Salesforce‑certified, and I’m consistently expanding my cloud and engineering skills through hands‑on work, personal projects, and technical writing on Medium. I enjoy taking complex problems, breaking them down, and shipping clean, well‑tested solutions.
Outside of coding, I’m into sci‑fi, documentaries, music, podcasts, and studying the Torah, which keeps me grounded and curious about how systems—both technical and human—work. At my core, I’m a fast learner who likes to take ownership, figure things out, and make things better than I found them.
Technical Skills
Frontend
Backend
Databases
DevOps & Cloud
Tools & Others
Resume
EXPERIENCE
Software Developer
Standard Bank Group, Johannesburg
2020 - present
- Develop full-stack web applications, contributing to the successful development and launch of 2 web applications.
- Remediate Pen Test findings and mitigate security vulnerabilities in web applications.
- Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, significantly reducing integration and deployment time.
- Monitor and respond to application interruptions and failures, ensuring high availability.
- Facilitate engineering sessions and promote knowledge sharing within the team.
- Developed and maintain online.dinersclub.co.za, ensuring always-on and secure operations.
- Successfully migrated on-premises applications to AWS, resulting in improved performance, scalability, and cost savings.
Software Developer
The Digital Academy, Johannesburg
2019 - 2020
- Contributed to developing 'Novelty', a web app for entrepreneurs offering business plan assistance, ABSA funding insights, and website-building resources.
- Designed and developed a Single Page Application (SPA) using the MEAN stack and Docker.
- Developed custom REST APIs and a robust back-end using NodeJS.
- Created and optimized a relational database with MySQL.
- Designed user interfaces and crafted web pages using Angular, incorporating Material Design and MD Bootstrap.
- Successfully integrated Google OAuth, a domain availability checker, and various other third-party APIs into the application.
SUMMARY
Gift Banda
I'm an innovative and deadline-driven developer experienced in developing web applications from initial concept to development and deployment.
- Phone: 072 943 3017
- Email: giftmbanda@gmail.com
EDUCATION
Postgraduate & Adv Diploma: Computer Science
Tshwane University Of Technology
Focus areas include algorithms, artificial intelligence, software engineering, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and database systems.
CERTIFICATION
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AWS Certified Developer - Associate
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AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
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Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator – Associate
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Microsoft Certified Azure Fundamentals
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Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder
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National Certificate: Banking (SAQA Accredited NQF Level 5)
Projects
I've worked on personal as well as professional projects. Here are some of personal projects I've kept.
Takealot Web-Scraper Price Monitor
Web Scraping and Automation
Enthralled by a spark of brilliance, swiftly I leapt upon the virtual scribe known as VS Code. A dance of creation to embark upon before the fleeting whisper of thought could dissolve into the ether of memory. Okay! I just wanted to experiment with web scraping so I created a web scraper that automatically monitors the price of a desired Dell monitor on Takealot. This cron job not only web scrapes but also sends me an email alert when the price drops to or below my target of R4000 almost in real-time. Initially priced at R4289, the monitor is slightly over my budget. Yet, with this tool, I can capitalize on price drops. It's a powerful, personalized alert system for tracking price changes. I shared this on LinkedIn and received positive feedback from my network; feel free to share your thoughts too. Takealot Webscape Price Monitor
Step-by-Step Guide To Hosting A Static Website On AWS
AWS and DevOps
I recently hosted my giftmbanda.com portfolio website on AWS using S3 for storage, CloudFront for content delivery, ACM for SSL/TLS certificates, and Route 53 for domain name management. Join me in this tutorial article as I walk you through the process of hosting a static website on AWS. A Step-by-Step Guide to Hosting a Static Website on AWS.
AWS CodePipeline and ECS IaC (with Terraform)
AWS and DevOps
This project showcases my use of Terraform to architect and provision a highly available and scalable infrastructure on AWS. The infrastructure includes a CodePipeline for CI/CD and an ECS cluster for deploying containerized applications, with a load balancer, CloudWatch, multiple availability zones, public and private subnets, NAT gateway, autoscaling group, and internet gateway. The CodePipeline automatically integrates and deploys code changes to the ECS cluster through CI/CD. The ECS infrastructure, as well as the rest of the infrastructure, is designed to scale based on demand and provide high availability and fault tolerance across multiple availability zones. If you'd like to read more about this, please visit my article on Medium at giftmbanda.medium.com.
Global Covid-19 Live Tracker
Web Development
A Global Covid-19 Live Tracker app developed in React offers live global covid-19 stats and individual country's stats. The site is accessible here, Global COVID-19 Live Tracker and the source code is available for review on my Github.
Novelty
Web Development
We often have a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start a business with only an idea and have to deal with the complexity involved with starting up a business. Novelty walks the user through evaluating their business idea, helps the user find the right team for their technical tasks and offers marketing strategies and ways to get funding for the business. Novelty is a product of The Digital Academy in partnership with ABSA. The project was developed using MySQL, Express, Angular, and NodeJs.
WhatsappOrder
Web Development
A lightweight HTML5, CSS3, and vanilla Javascript food ordering website allow customers to place food orders and forward the order via Whatsapp to the Whatsapp linked to the site, which is ideal for small fast-food businesses. The site is accessible here, WhatsappOrder.
MyStudyLife
Web Development
A student attendance register system, the web app, allows students to log their class attendance via a GPS-enabled smartphone. The student turns on GPS/Location on their device,logs in, and selects "Attend" for the module being lectured that they present at. The system checks the student's Device GPS Coordinate against the assigned venue's GPS coordinates. It checks the student's Device GPS Coordinate ping time against the Subject's designated attendance time and then processes the attendance. This project is developed with Laravel, Bootstrap, HTML, and CSS and uses the MySQL database. The source code is available for review on my Github.
Contact
I'm available for work opportunities. Send me a message if you believe I'd be a good fit for your team or if you just want to say hello.
Contact
- Phone: 072 943 3017
- Email: giftmbanda@gmail.com
- Location: Johannesburg