Cabinet's approval of Sentech's current CEO as head of the embattled State IT Agency (SITA) may be an extension of the "turf war" that arose out of the move to split SA's ICT ministry in May last year.
This is according to the Democratic Alliance's shadow minister for telecommunications and postal services Marian Shinn, who notes Sentech CEO Setumo Mohapi has turned the state's signal distributor around, and may "do the same for SITA".
SITA, which is on its 17th CEO since its inception 15 years ago, was previously lambasted for offering no value, and is the subject of a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into tenders it has awarded.
"This may be a clumsy, unilateral attempt to keep Dr Mohapi in the DTPS [Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services] fold and out of minister [Faith] Muthambi's reach." Shinn adds Mohapi has proven to be a rare talent.
Internal opposition
There seems to be some opposition to his appointment - reportedly both from Mohapi's side and SITA's side. According to a Business Day report yesterday, "some SITA board members" are unhappy Mohapi was being "imposed" on them.
A SITA spokesperson has indicated the agency's board has yet to decide whether Mohapi will take the position - as well as when the agency's current CEO, Freeman Nomvalo, will step down.
Nomvalo was initially appointed for a year, to May 2014, but this was quietly extended last year. It was not until after media reports around Cabinet's appointment of Mohapi that many of the "lower level" employees at SITA found out about the changes.
Nomvalo's term at SITA is about to come to an end - in a week's time, to be exact - while Mohapi was appointed Sentech CEO for five years, effective from 1 November 2010. Until the board has taken a decision and a contract has been signed, it is unclear whether SITA will stand unmanned at the top for the next seven months.
Yesterday, Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams confirmed there had not yet been any formal contract signed between Mohapi and SITA.
Shinn says, come November, Mohapi can choose whether to renew his five-year term at Sentech, or move to SITA, by negotiation with the minister and DG - or leave government service altogether. "If he leaves government service before his Sentech contract expires, there will have to be negotiations around the terms of his departure," she says. "Or he may leave when his contract expires."
Symptomatic situation
Shinn says this "muddle" seems symptomatic of the "months-long amateur hour that has gripped the upper-echelons of DTPS and the ministry". She adds ill-informed decisions seem to be made without adequate consultation or due process.
"I understand there is much unhappiness in the top management layers of the entities that are, legally, under the executive authority of DTPS, yet are having to kow-tow to minister Muthambi on the digital migration process. Such is the chaos created by the split of the former DOC [Department of Communications] and the presidential proclamation giving the digital terrestrial TV project to minister Muthambi."
She says the DTPS has been prevaricating on the appointment of a permanent SITA CEO for months, a situation that has been "most uncomfortable" for Nomvalo and created further de-stabilisation in SITA.
SITA can ill afford a stint without a CEO in place. In September last year, Parliament's research unit said the agency had been "rocked by continuous leadership instability at all levels".
Two months later, ITWeb reported the state's IT procurement arm was actually costing the state more than if government had to buy through vendors directly.
Meanwhile, a probe by the SIU into suspected unlawful conduct surrounding SITA tenders, which commenced in May 2013, was supposed to be concluded this month.
"SITA needs more immediate help right now, so it needs a permanent CEO promptly. Sentech could manage for a short term with an acting CEO until a permanent replacement is found," says Shinn.
"I sincerely hope this ham-fisted attempt by Cabinet has not put off Dr Mohapi. Much as I am sure he is sought after by the private sector, I hope he stays within the DTPS fold, because there are few appropriately technically qualified people in executive management positions."
The DTPS had not commented by the time of publication.