The evolution of internet and the widespread adoption of technology in academic libraries brings about new roles and responsibilities for subject librarians. Digital literacy instruction remains the indispensable service in academic libraries in the 21st century. This emphasises the necessity for subject librarians to possess relevant digital literacy skills. This article reports on the quantitative findings emanating from the explanatory sequential mixed methods study (2022) that investigated digital literacy instruction in academic libraries in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) region in South Africa. The quantitative findings were used to achieve the study's objective that sought to find out if subject librarians possess digital literacy skills necessary for digital literacy instruction in academic libraries in KwaZulu-Natal region, South Africa. The study adopted a census method and collected data from a total of 58 subject librarians from traditional universities and universities of technology in KZN region through an online survey. The findings revealed that subject librarians in academic librarians (KwaZulu-Natal region, South Africa) are competent in various digital literacy namely e-mailing skills, Word processing, PowerPoint, information retrieval and blended learning. Further, the study revealed a significant lack of digital literacy skills related to library management system, knowledge of statistical software packages, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Access, Website design and copyright licensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]