The State IT Agency has named Simphiwe Dzengwa as acting MD with immediate effect. Dzengwa replaces Ntutule Tshenye, who was appointed to the position, also in an acting role, in December, following the resignation of former MD Bongani Andy Mabaso.

Dzengwa’s appointment coincides with an ongoing dispute between disgruntled former members of the Sita board and communications minister Mondli Gungubele, who axed them last year over Mabaso’s appointment at a salary the minister had not agreed to.

“Dzengwa is expected to lead and augment the executive leadership capacity to enable Sita to operate more efficiently and focus, among other things, on the supply chain area so that our clients are able to derive more value,” Sita spokesman Tlali Tlali told TechCentral, confirming the appointment.

Before his appointment as Sita acting MD, Dzengwa had been special advisor to small business development minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams for two-and-a-half years. Ndabeni-Abrahams is a former minister of communications on whose watch Sita was placed into administration for a period.

Prior to that, he held various executive positions in public sector institutions, including CEO of the Gauteng Partnership Fund, executive director for municipal finance at the South African Local Government Association and CEO of the Eastern Cape Innovation Hub.

In July last year, Gungubele fired Sita’s board, appointing a new board a few days later, due to what he described as irregularities in the appointment of former CEO Mabaso.

Judge Julian Yende of the high court in Pretoria ruled against the minister last week, ordering the suspension of the new board, which would include Dzengwa, and that the old board be reinstated.

Read: High court overturns Gungubele’s axeing of Sita board

As TechCentral understands the situation, the so-called “new” Sita board has been reporting for duty while the department of communications & digital technologies explores its legal options regarding the matter. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media