Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications & digital technologies is seeking legal advice as it moves to launch an inquiry into governance problems at the embattled State IT Agency (Sita).
This intervention follows President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement in his state of the nation address last week promising government-wide digital reforms that aim to “transform the relationship between citizens and government, and create one government that is accessible to every person at a touch”.
Since most public sector IT procurement must go through Sita, inefficiencies there threaten to put a dampener on Ramaphosa’s digitisation plans and could throttle the economic growth that government hopes to spark through these digital reforms.
“In line with parliament’s full legal authority to conduct its own investigations and cognisant of the doctrine of separation of powers, such an inquiry [will] focus on the staff concerns that organised labour have raised with the committee, the high staff turnover at executive level, and the governance and operational inefficiencies that have led some government departments to consider applying for exemption from using Sita as the government’s preferred partner for the delivery of information and technology solutions,” said communications portfolio chair Khusela Diko said in a statement on Thursday.
Ramaphosa said the digitisation efforts at the department of home affairs will be “at the heart” of government’s digital overhaul. These include the introduction of digital IDs, driver’s licences and digital visas, with the latter aimed at speeding up the process of hiring foreign skills, especially in the IT sector.
Interventions
Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber last November called for the decentralisation of public sector IT procurement services from Sita, saying the coupling to Sita meant government departments were operating “with one hand behind our backs”.
“Sita is an artificial construct that stands squarely in the way of technological progress, not only at home affairs, but across government,” said Schreiber.
Read: Sources allege fresh malfeasance at Sita
In a December statement ordering the Public Service Commission to launch a probe into Sita’s affairs, communications minister Solly Malatsi also said “numerous” government departments have sought exemptions from using Sita’s procurement services due to its alleged inefficiencies. These include home affairs, the police service and the justice department. These interventions, however, require changes to legislation, a time-consuming process.
In the meantime, according to Diko’s statement, the portfolio committee on 12 February adopted an oversight committee report on Sita that sets out remedial interventions that Malatsi is expected to implement once the national assembly has adopted the report.
Included in the report are recommendations on:
- A Cliff Decker Hofmeyr report on Sita’s awarding of an allegedly irregular tender worth R1.2-billion for the provision of local-area network services to Western Cape schools.
- The development of interim measures to ensure there is no governance vacuum while a new board and MD are appointed at Sita; and
- Establishing whether it is desirable to pay fees to members of the board who were relieved of their duties by former communications minister Mondli Gungubele but reinstated following a high court ruling last June.
Read: Everything Ramaphosa said about tech in his 2025 Sona speech
“The chairperson (Diko) welcomes the department’s assurances that the process of appointing a new board is at an advanced stage, with cabinet currently considering the appointment of an interim board,” said the statement. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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