The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) said that the embattled State Information Technology Agency (SITA) is starting a new chapter after the conclusion of a DCDT-commissioned investigation by the Public Service Commission (PSC).

In December 2024, recognising the seriousness of the challenges facing SITA, Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi formally requested the PSC to conduct an independent investigation into the entity.

The investigation examined a range of critical issues, including governance failures, leadership instability, internal infighting, and weak accountability and decision-making processes.

Further, it probed allegations of procurement irregularities, corruption and the approval of irregular contracts, as well as the high turnover in executive leadership that has contributed to organisational instability.

The PSC, having concluded the investigation, formally handed over the report to Malatsi on Monday.

“SITA had has had challenges around compliance, with good governance practices, quality of service delivery, leadership instability - both at board level and at executive level - and the issues that were constantly raised by several government departments around its ability to provide those services [all being concerns],” he said during a briefing unpacking the outcomes of the report.

The report found that the weaknesses identified, which have impacted SITA’s capability, are systematic, cross-cutting and mutually reinforcing, amid weak accountability and weakened public confidence in the organisation.

“Cumulatively, all of these factors created an environment in which delays, poor decision-making and corruption risk could take root,” he said.

The report articulated where the parties responsible for SITA, including the DCDT, its board and executive, ought to be intervening, with the PSC outlining key areas for immediate intervention.

“We agree with both the spirit and direction of those [proposed interventions].”

One such intervention proposed by the PSC is that, within the next 30 business days, SITA’s board must submit a board-approved stabilisation and recovery plan, together with verified procurement backlog baseline.

Within 60 business days, SITA must submit a comprehensive governance reform plan to strengthen procurement controls, record-keeping, board administration and executive accountability.

In addition, SITA is required to provide quarterly governance reports to ensure that the implementation is monitored transparently and progress can be measured against clear deliverables.

“We have also agreed that these reforms cannot simply be declared completed by management, but it is something that requires that myself, as the shareholder, hold the board accountable to.”

The report has also identified the need for a broader look at SITA’s operations.

“We, in the department, have already started kicking off a process that looks at the repurposing of SITA, and that study will ultimately inform how we position this institution, that is a great enabler and the bedrock of South Africa's information and communications technology needs,” Malatsi commented.

He further pointed out that the report did not conclude that every transaction appointment or decision at SITA was irregular, but rather that it identified systematic weaknesses that must be addressed to restore good governance, ethical leadership, accountability and ensuring that the organisation focuses on quality of service to its client.

“Our responsibility now is to create an institution that can support ethical public servants, that restores confidence among the clients’ departments and that ensures that public funds are managed with integrity, discipline and accountability on the areas of organisational instability, which the board has identified. We have already started making movements on some of these issues.”

SITA’s leadership has a grasp of what needs to be done to now reposition SITA and focus on delivery.

“We have a very ethical, capable and excellent board now, under the leadership of chairperson professor Stella Bvuma. Prior to this board being appointed, we also appointed Magatho Mello as SITA’s MD.

“We have opened a new chapter, starting with the previous interim board, which assisted in building a strong foundation for the turnaround, and now, the current board,” Malatsi concluded.