Solly Malatsi and Khusela Diko clash over Sita plans

Senior government officials are at odds over the authority and effectiveness of the State Information Technology Agency (Sita).

The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies was accused by his portfolio committee chair of attempting to devolve powers away from the state-owned enterprise.

Implying that Minister Solly Malatsi’s actions were akin to state capture, Khusela Diko said his goals were anti-transformation and prioritised business interests.

Taking power away from Sita

Malatsi recently appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies to discuss efficiencies and cost-saving measures at Sita.

Recommendations from a February committee meeting stated that the minister must ensure a separation of powers between Sita’s board and its executive and detail how the entity would be turned around by the end of the year.

Diko was unhappy with Malatsi’s suggestions, saying they devolved powers away from Sita while creating “fragmentation, duplication and lack of integration in government services”.

Diko said Malatsi acted outside of the Act governing Sita and that nothing in the legislation gave the minister the authority to devolve Sita functions to individual departments.

“At a time when our country is still recovering from a period in which the capacity of the state was all but hollowed out, that Minister Malatsi should be seeking a return to that unfortunate trajectory should alarm us all,” stated Diko earlier this week.

Portfolio chair ‘misinformed’

Malatsi’s course of action centres around the processes of procurement across departments and the appointment of Sita officials.

The Sita board was forced to apologise to the Minister in January after it appointed an acting Managing Director without following procedure.

The Minister has been involved in streamlining Sita since late 2024 and expanded a digital learning programme in February. He denied Diko’s claims that he was anti-transformation.

“She is either utterly misinformed or deliberately distorting facts to suit the odious agenda she is pursuing on this matter,” Malatsi told The Citizen.

“The Sita regulations, which enjoy overwhelming support from ministers in the GNU, aim to empower the departments to have the freedom to procure outside of Sita, when they are able to present a business case, within existing public procurement prescripts, at a faster turnaround time and at lower cost,” he explained.

The portfolio committee resolved to hold an inquiry into the mechanics of Sita during the coming parliamentary term.

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