Communications Minister Solly Malatsi says a PSC investigation found systemic governance failures at SITA, flagging more than R2 billion in irregular expenditure and ordering urgent reforms to restore accountability and efficiency.
Image: Facebook/Department of Communications & Digital Technologies.
Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi says a Public Service Commission (PSC) investigation has found systemic governance failures at the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) after more than R2 billion in irregular expenditure was flagged over four audited financial years.
Malatsi and Public Service Commission (PSC) chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni on Monday released the commission's investigation report into governance, procurement, consequence management and organisational weaknesses at SITA, covering the period from 2020 to 2025.
The investigation was requested by Malatsi in December 2024 as part of government's efforts to confront longstanding governance failures at SITA, receive factual findings and act on them with urgency.
The report states that it does not make findings of guilt against any individual but identifies systemic, cross-cutting and mutually reinforcing weaknesses in SITA's governance environment.
Among the report's most significant findings was that the Auditor-General flagged irregular expenditure totalling more than R2 billion over four audited financial years, comprising R819.7 million in 2020/21, R285.5 million in 2021/22, R452 million in 2022/23 and R514.171 million in 2024/25.
The investigation found insufficient evidence that consequence management had been consistently applied in relation to those matters.
"This report is difficult reading, but it is necessary reading. SITA is the state's central ICT engine. When SITA fails, departments wait longer for the systems they need, budgets are placed under pressure, and citizens ultimately experience the consequences through poorer public services,'' Malatsi said.
The report also found widespread weaknesses in SITA's procurement systems. Of the 1,443 concluded procurement matters reviewed, one in four tenders did not result in an award. A total of 278 tenders were withdrawn, 52 were cancelled, and 34 were closed without a recorded reason, representing an attrition rate of 25.2%.
In addition, 529 procurement matters remained in the pipeline, with the oldest matters spending an average of more than 400 days in adjudication and contracting.
The investigation also found that 203 procurement matters took longer than a year from work order to final outcome.
According to the report, these delays have affected government's ability to obtain critical ICT systems and services, with departments including the South African Police Service, Department of Home Affairs and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development having, over time, sought exemptions from SITA processes to meet their operational needs.
The investigation further found that SITA did not have a reliable, integrated and automated central contract register, with contract expiry dates tracked manually and value for money not always capable of being demonstrated.
It also identified corruption risks in recruitment and human resource processes, citing broad discretion, weak controls, incomplete audit trails, retrospective approvals, weak vetting and instances where contract extensions bypassed competitive processes.
The report raised serious concerns about Board governance, including missing meeting packs, incomplete resolutions and records that depended on individual custodians, making it difficult for SITA to demonstrate how major decisions had been taken, when they were taken and by whom.
Malatsi said the report provides government with a clear roadmap to address those weaknesses.
"The value of this report is that it does not leave us with vague concerns. It gives us a clear diagnosis, a set of practical reforms and hard deadlines.
''The era of drift at SITA must end. The Board and management now have a direct mandate to stabilise the organisation, restore basic controls, clear procurement blockages and rebuild trust through evidence, not promises."
The investigation concluded that organisational instability weakened oversight, weak oversight undermined accountability and weak accountability contributed to low levels of trust and institutional paralysis.
It said the purpose of the report is not only to identify what went wrong at SITA but also to ensure the lessons are applied across the public service.
To ensure the findings translate into action, the Minister and the PSC directed SITA's Board to submit a board-approved stabilisation and recovery plan within 30 business days.
The agency must also produce a verified procurement backlog baseline within 30 business days and submit a governance reform plan within 60 business days.
SITA will also be required to provide quarterly governance health reports to the Minister, establish a consolidated consequence management framework and ensure reforms are independently validated.
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies is also leading a review of SITA's mandate and operating model together with the Department of Public Service and Administration, National Treasury and The Presidency.
The Minister and the PSC stressed that the report does not conclude that every transaction, appointment or decision at SITA was irregular, but identifies systemic weaknesses that created an environment in which poor decisions, delays, weak accountability and corruption risks could take root.
The PSC said accountability and fairness must go together, adding that accountability should be exercised in a manner that is evidence-based, consistent and guided by due process. It said the report therefore calls for consequence management that is properly recorded, applied consistently and implemented lawfully, while strengthening governance across the public service.
They also acknowledged SITA employees who have continued serving the institution professionally despite years of organisational instability.
"The task now is to rebuild SITA in a way that protects ethical employees, restores confidence among client departments, and ensures that public money is managed with discipline," Malatsi said.
The Minister and the PSC said they will monitor implementation of the report's recommendations and provide updates on progress against the 30-business-day and 60-business-day deadlines.
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