The government has scrapped a nearly complete IT project, at a cost of R1 billion, in favour of a new system which could see cost as much as R3 billion.<\/p>\n
The Sunday Independent reported that less\u00a0than 10% of the R1 billion spent on an integrated finance management system, could be reinvested in the new project.<\/p>\n
Government\u2019s IT arm, the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) could also face a weighty legal bill, the paper reported.<\/p>\n
A decision to can the current project comes at a time when it is 80% complete, while a new tender, put out in March, is still pending.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Treasury, told the Sunday Independent that the decision is \u201cstrategic\u201d following an agreement between Treasury and SITA.<\/p>\n
He rejected the notion that R1 billion would be written off. He said that a decision to migrate the new IT system was taken by cabinet in November last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cA large portion of the amount spent to date was allocated to preparation activities, upgrade of integration capabilities and specification of business requirements\u2026The decision to change I deemed reasonable in the course of the programme life cycle, and therefore not construed to be fruitless and or wasteful,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n