The State Information Technology Agency (SITA), responsible for keeping the state’s digital infrastructure running, has been rocked by a damning investigation that uncovered more than R2-billion in irregular expenditure, procurement gridlock and glaring governance failures that have impacted service delivery.
The Public Service Commission’s (PSC) investigation found that the Auditor-General flagged over R2 billion in irregular expenditure across four audited financial years.
Despite the staggering figures, investigators found insufficient evidence that officials were consistently held accountable.
The findings come from a PSC investigation into governance, procurement, consequence management, and organisational weaknesses at SITA between 2020 and 2025, which was released on Monday in Pretoria by Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi and PSC chairperson Professor Somadoda Fikeni.
Need to ring changes
Malatsi said the findings expose an institution that can no longer continue operating as before.
“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,” he said.
He said the report provides government with more than just a diagnosis of the agency’s problems.
“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,” Malatsi said.
The report also paints a bleak picture of the embattled SITA procurement system. One in every four tenders analysed failed to produce an award. Of the 1,443 procurement matters reviewed, 278 were withdrawn, 52 cancelled and 34 closed without any recorded reason, resulting in an attrition rate of 25.2%.
Adding to the dysfunction, 529 procurement matters remain stuck in the pipeline, with some languishing in adjudication and contracting for more than 400 days on average. Another 203 procurement matters took more than a year to move from work order to final outcome.
The report warns that the procurement delays have had a direct impact on the government’s ability to deliver services. This has led the South African Police Service, Home Affairs and Justice to increasingly seek exemptions from SITA’s procurement processes in order to secure critical ICT systems.
The investigation also uncovered corruption risks in recruitment and human resource processes.
Investigators further found that SITA lacked a reliable, integrated contract register and that board records were often incomplete. The lack of meeting packs and resolutions has made it difficult for the organisation to establish how major decisions were taken or which official approved them.
The report concludes that SITA’s problems run far deeper than administrative inefficiency.
Investigators found that, although governance policies largely existed on paper, they repeatedly failed due to poor implementation.
To prevent the report from gathering dust, Malatsi has directed SITA’s board to submit a recovery plan within 30 business days. They will then have to produce a verified procurement backlog and implement governance reforms within 60 business days.
- The Public Service Commission's investigation revealed over R2 billion in irregular expenditure and severe governance and procurement failures at SITA between 2020-2025, impacting government service delivery.
- Approximately 25.2% of tenders analyzed failed to produce awards, with many procurement matters delayed over a year, causing critical ICT systems delays and prompting departments like SAPS and Home Affairs to seek exemptions.
- Corruption risks were identified in recruitment and HR processes, compounded by poor record-keeping, lack of integrated contract management, incomplete board documentation, and unclear decision approvals.
- Governance policies at SITA exist but are poorly implemented, leading to systemic administrative inefficiencies and lack of accountability for financial irregularities.
- Communications Minister Solly Malatsi mandated SITA’s board to submit a recovery plan within 30 business days and enforce procurement and governance reforms within 60 business days to address the crisis.
Despite the staggering figures, investigators found insufficient evidence that officials were consistently held accountable.
Malatsi said the findings expose an institution that can no longer continue operating as before.
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He said the report provides government with more than just a diagnosis of the agency's problems.
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Investigators further found that SITA lacked a reliable, integrated contract register and that board records were often incomplete.
Investigators found that, although governance policies largely existed on paper, they repeatedly failed due to poor implementation.
To prevent the report from gathering dust, Malatsi has directed SITA's board to submit a recovery plan within 30 business days.
