‘Challenges around salaries’: Auditor-General says Sita can’t afford ICT staff

The Auditor-General of South Africa (AG) has laid out the administrative consequences of a failing government communications division.  

Deficiencies within the State Information and Technology Agency (Sita) were under the parliamentary microscope on Tuesday to prepare the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa).

The oversight body has scheduled meetings with Sita and the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies in the coming weeks.

‘Internal control weaknesses’

Sita is the body that provides the ICT services for government departments and is tasked with modernising the communications infrastructure used by government.

The AG reiterated that Sita had five CEOs in five years, leading to the regressive performance outlined in their previous financial years’ audit.

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 related to assets, taxation, cost of sales, liabilities and property.

“We are dealing with an internal control environment [at Sita] that is characterised by significant internal control weaknesses and ineffective review processes,” stated AG Business Unit Leader, Madidimalo Singo.

“That on its own impacts the ability for those charged with governance and oversight to then effectively carry out their tasks,” Singo explained.

Over 50% of vacancies unfilled

This poor control environment was due to audit action plans not being implemented effectively, as well as date entry inefficiencies and the late submission of information required for the audit, the AG stated.

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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 Department of Defence, those vacancy rates sat at 56% and 47%, respectively.

The AG team relayed the explanations they were given by Sita management as to why recruiting ICT specialists was difficult.

“What they say is that a lot of the ICT skills are often in the private sector, and the skills that they are able to bring on board, you also find that there are challenges around salaries,” said Singo.

Restoring stable leadership is key

Additionally, ICT procurement orders can take up to four months to process, starting from the day an approved order is received.

The AG said the explanation centred around queries relayed back and forth between Sita and the department, the need to use compatible technologies and the outdated processing procedures.

“The process, because of its manual nature, I think, contributes toward the long turnaround time. Also, the times they have provided for themselves… can be looked into for Sita to try and shorten those dates,” said the AG’s Lufuno Mmbadi.

Scopa resolved to press Sita on financial management issues, performance objectives, material irregularities, cybersecurity and Sita’s capacity to implement its mandate.

However, 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 said.

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