In a major shift for South Africa’s digital governance, government departments can now procure IT services from providers other than the struggling State Information Technology Agency (SITA).
The move comes after consultation with National Treasury and aims to address chronic system failures that have paralysed services from Home Affairs to Social Development.
DA Spokesperson on Communications & Digital Technologies Tsholofelo Bodlani welcomed the reform: “For years, South Africans have suffered because SITA couldn’t keep systems online. This change means departments can finally choose competent providers, ending the endless ‘system offline’ excuses that delay services.”
Under the new framework:
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Departments can procure externally if they demonstrate better speed/cost than SITA
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SITA remains an option for those who choose it
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The policy follows last week’s draft directions to boost competition in ICT
“This is how we rescue South Africa,” Bodlani added. “When SAPS can’t access databases or Home Affairs can’t issue IDs because ‘the system is offline’, lives are affected. The DA has long argued that breaking SITA’s monopoly would improve service delivery, and we’re pleased to see this rational approach adopted.”
The reform comes as SITA has repeatedly failed to maintain critical systems, creating backlogs across government services. Departments must now submit business cases to procure externally, introducing much-needed competition to government IT infrastructure.
