The State IT Agency (Sita) has lashed out at the City of Tshwane after electricity was cut to one of its facilities in Pretoria, accusing the municipality of acting without due diligence and wrongly blaming the agency for unpaid electricity bills.

In a strongly worded statement on Friday, Sita said claims circulating on social media – some amplified by municipal officials – that it owes Tshwane money for electricity are “factually incorrect” and amount to a misrepresentation of the circumstances that led to the disconnection.

At the heart of the dispute is who holds the electricity account for the affected building. According to Sita, the property is owned by the department of public works & infrastructure, which is also the registered account holder with the municipality. Sita occupies the building as a tenant and is not responsible for settling municipal electricity accounts directly.

“Sita is a tenant, not the account holder,” the agency said. “Any outstanding amounts, if they exist, should be addressed with the account holder – the landlord – not the tenant.”

Sita said it has fully met its financial obligations under its occupation agreement and does not owe either Tshwane or the public works department any money for electricity usage. It added that public works has confirmed payment to the municipality, and that the matter could have been resolved through a simple billing reconciliation between Tshwane and the department.

Instead, the municipality disconnected electricity to a building housing multiple government entities and publicly singled out Sita as a defaulter, a move the agency described as “unjust and unwarranted”.

Critical services

More seriously, Sita warned that the power cut endangered critical government ICT services. The agency operates sensitive infrastructure that supports essential government functions, and any interruption could have had far-reaching consequences for service delivery to citizens.

“The disconnection of electricity at this facility was not merely an administrative action – it was a reckless decision,” Sita said.

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While backing the principle that consumers who can afford to pay for municipal services should do so, Sita accused Tshwane of failing to verify basic facts before taking drastic action. It said the municipality should have engaged directly with public works rather than cutting power to a facility hosting critical national infrastructure.

Sita also took aim at the public communication around the incident, calling it an “unfortunate publicity stunt” that caused reputational damage and unnecessary public confusion about the agency’s financial standing.

The agency is demanding that Tshwane retract what it called false and defamatory statements, issue a public correction and apology, and commit to verifying account holders and debt obligations before taking disconnection action in future.

Despite the sharp tone, Sita said it remains committed to cooperative governance, but stressed that such cooperation must be based on factual accuracy, mutual respect and proper administrative procedures.