By Thapelo Molefe
Allegations of board infighting, mismanagement and serious lapses in accountability have pushed the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) into the spotlight again, with Parliament now considering a full enquiry into the agency’s affairs.
“The committee has noted with serious concern ongoing governance challenges and allegations of maladministration at the State Information Technology Agency,” said Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies chairperson Khusela Sangoni Diko.
“While the committee welcomes the Public Service Commission and the Public Protector’s investigations into board infighting, mismanagement and lapses in accountability and decision-making at SITA, it has also consulted with Parliamentary Legal Services to seek guidance on the desirability of implementing Section 227 (1) (c) of the National Assembly Rules to institute a parliamentary enquiry into SITA’s affairs.”
The committee has expressed grave concerns over SITA’s governance challenges following the expiration of the contracted terms of both the board of directors and acting managing director in January and February 2025, respectively.
Additionally, an emergency oversight visit conducted in December 2024 revealed troubling inefficiencies within the agency.
“In line with Parliament’s full legal authority to conduct its own investigations and cognisant of the doctrine of separation of powers, such an enquiry would 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,” Diko stated.
The committee’s oversight report, adopted this week, includes several recommendations aimed at stabilising the agency.
Among them is the referral of the Cliff Decker Hofmeyr report on the Western Cape Education Department’s allegedly irregular R1.2 billion tender to the Special Investigating Unit.
Other key recommendations involve developing interim measures to ensure there is no governance vacuum while a new board and managing director are appointed.
The committee is also questioning the appropriateness of continuing to pay fees to former board members who were dismissed by Communications and Digital Technology Deputy Minister Mondli Gungubele, when he was still the minister, who and are of no service to the agency.
“The committee 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,” Diko emphasised.
“The committee’s oversight report on SITA adopted on 12 February 2025 contains recommendations, which the minister is expected to respond to and implement following the National Assembly’s adoption of the report.”
As SITA remains under scrutiny, the committee is expected to closely monitor the implementation of its recommendations, while the possibility of a full parliamentary enquiry looms.
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