The state-owned company holding South Africa back

The South African Information Technology Agency (SITA) is a huge impediment to the functioning of government business, and efforts to allow departments to move away from the troubled state-owned company are being met with political resistance.

SITA is responsible for the provision of IT services to the government, and forms the backbone of its centralised systems.

Unfortunately, the agency does not function very well.

The agency has been bedevilled by allegations of corruption and mismanagement, leadership instability, and irregular procurement processes.

There are frequent complaints from government departments about the quality of service delivery—most notably from the Department of Home Affairs, which has for years blamed SITA for its constant system downtime.

A report presented to the Portfolio Committee on Communications in December 2024 outlined various issues at the agency.

This ultimately led to proposals by minister of communications and digital technologies, Solly Malatsi, to change regulations to empower state entities to appoint their own IT service providers rather than being forced to use SITA.

Various departments, including Home Affairs and the South African Police Service, have expressed how their public services could skyrocket had they access to proper IT systems.

However, these proposals are now facing backlash in parliament as party politics comes into play.

Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, Khusela Diko, has publicly challenged the legality of Malatsi’s proposals.

She claimed that allowing government departments to procure IT services outside SITA is not in line with the SITA Act, and would cause fragmentation of government services.

Malatsi hit back, saying that the proposals are fully aligned with existing laws on government procurement and already have the concurrence of the Minister of Finance, as required by the SITA Act.

“The SITA regulations, which enjoy overwhelming support from Ministers in the Government of National Unity and provincial governments, give departments the freedom to procure outside of SITA,” he said.

“To do so, departments must present a strong and viable business case within existing public procurement prescripts, with faster turnaround times and reduced costs.”

Cheap politics

According to Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) chief executive, Busi Mavuso, the tit-for-tat over SITA has become a political game at a time the country can least afford it.

She said that SITA is a fundamental constraint on the public sector, and its ability to embrace technology and digital solutions.

Pointing to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) as an example, Mavuso said that public services can only thrive if they can function on world-class IT services.

“The ability of government to embrace and work with world class IT systems is too important to politicise the issue,” she said.

“The example of Sars stands out as a beacon of what is possible and many government institutions are eager to follow it.”

Mavuso said that all the efforts being put into reforming government and building a capable state will be in vain if the IT systems aren’t there to enable and support it.

However, she stressed that giving an option to sidestep SITA isn’t enough, as many government department can’t take that route—so SITA still needs to be reformed.

“Empowering departments to manage their own IT procurement is a key step. But we should also aim to ensure that Sita itself becomes effective and is able to compete to provide services to the public sector,” she said.

“Granting departments the ability to choose to use Sita or not, would result in some healthy competitive pressure to enable Sita to sort out its leadership and corruption issues.”

Critically, Mavuso said that South Africa cannot afford to have something as crucial as its IT systems become a tool for cheap political point-scoring.

“The digital world is obviously evolving fast. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, platform economies and expanding digital infrastructure, among much else, are disrupting many business models,” she said.

“All of these provide opportunities for the public sector to embrace innovation and improve the quality of services that South Africans get from their government.”