The Citizen reports that the Auditor-General of SA (AG) has laid out the administrative consequences of deficiencies within the State Information and Technology Agency (Sita), which provides the ICT services for government departments and is tasked with modernising the communications infrastructure used by government.

The AG pointed out that Sita has had five CEOs in five years, leading to the regressive performance outlined in previous financial years’ audits. The entity registered R2 billion in irregular expenditure for the 2023/24 financial year, with the AG finding material misstatements in at least 12 key areas. A gaping human resources hole was also identified within Sita, with ICT departments across government showing a 54% vacancy rate. For divisions looking after the police and the defence department, vacancy rates were at 56% and 47%, respectively. The explanations given by Sita management was that recruiting ICT specialists was difficult. “What they say is that a lot of the ICT skills are often in the private sector, and (with) the skills that they are able to bring on board, you also find that there are challenges around salaries,” said the AG’s Madidimalo Singo. The AG stressed that without restoring stable leadership, proper remedial action and reforms would be difficult to implement. “There might be plans that are put in place, but those plans are not going to be effective unless there is somebody at the top of the institution that is accountable for the strategic direction in which the entity is going,” Singo pointed out.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jarryd Westerdale at The Citizen
• Read too, Sita in crisis: R2bn irregular spending, more than 50% staff vacancies, AG reveals, at City Press (subscription or trial registration required)

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