Poor state of governance, lack of accountability at SITA were laid bare in parliament

CAPE TOWN - The poor state of governance and lack of accountability at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) have been laid bare in Parliament on Tuesday.

Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (SCOPA) has heard it takes an average of four months for SITA to procure goods required by the departments they support.

The Auditor General (AG)s' office says these inefficiencies have the knock-on effect of hindering departments from delivering on their mandates

Regressing in its audit outcome, the agency has received a disclaimer for the 2023/24 financial year.

It’s meant to be the IT shop for the government.

ALSO READ: SITA board under fire for interfering in procurement and leadership instability

But with five CEOs in as many years and the dismissal and reappointment of two boards in the past 18 months.

The AG’s office says accountability for the irregular expenditure and other governance failures at SITA is sorely lacking.

Senior manager Portia Nkuna has explained to SCOPA the state of the entity’s finances.

"SITA provided us with financial statements that had misstatements even after they have been provided the opportunity to make some adjustments, those material misstatements could not be rectified."

SCOPA has also heard the agency has a vacancy rate of more than 50% for rendering services to the police, and more than 40% in the case of the South African National Defence Force

Procurement delays are also hampering service delivery.

Communications Minister Solly Malatsi has come under fire from the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee, Khusela Diko, for suggesting he’s considering exempting some State departments from procuring IT services from SITA.