Governance Suitability in South African Organisations: A Systematic Integrative Review of IT Governance Framework Fit Across Organisational Contexts

IT governance (ITG) frameworks organise decision rights, accountability, risk management and value delivery, but South African organisations differ in resources, governance maturity, regulatory exposure, implementation capability and framework fit. This systematic integrative review examines how ITG suitability varies across organisational contexts and identifies conditions associated with framework misfit and adaptation. The literature published from January 2016 to October 2026 was identified through Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, IEEE Xplore and Google Scholar and reported with reference to PRISMA 2020. Twenty-six eligible studies were synthesised thematically. Six cross-cutting themes emerged: governance maturity, governance capability, capability deficits, governance complexity, compliance pressure and governance adaptability. The synthesis identifies governance exclusion, where governance requirements exceed implementation capacity, and governance excess, where accumulated controls and reporting requirements create rigidity and administrative burden. The review concludes that ITG effectiveness depends not only on formal framework adoption but on governance suitability: alignment between governance demand and organisational capability. The Adaptive Governance Suitability Framework (AGSF) is proposed as a preliminary conceptual synthesis requiring empirical validation.