Setumo Mohapi has officially taken the reins at the embattled State IT Agency (SITA) and, while his reputation for delivering change precedes him, he will need to be incredibly steely to succeed in his new role.
This is according to industry watchers and comes after the former Sentech chief officially took up office at SITA yesterday. Mohapi, who has widely been credited with turning around government's broadcasting signal distributor - where he held top spot from November 2010 - has signed a four-year contract with SITA.
The IT procurement arm - of which Mohapi becomes the 18th CEO in 15 years - has long been plagued by problems and was previously lambasted for offering no value. It is also the subject of a Special Investigating Unit probe into tenders it has awarded.
Jerry Vilakazi, SITA chairman, says the entity trusts Mohapi's "experience and leadership will be of significant benefit to SITA".
Mohapi's responsibility now is to "continue on the path to steer SITA into a respectable and formidable industry leader mandated to provide ICT solutions to government, its entities and to the people of SA", says SITA.
CEO of steel
All indications and industry talk is that this will be no easy task. "Funding issues, management issues, turf wars, poor project execution, lack of skills, pressure to keep legacy systems running - these are all nightmares for top management," notes ICT expert Adrian Schofield.
"A good CEO needs to adopt strong measures to overcome the problems and needs to have the consistent support of the board to be effective. Weaken that support and allow political influence to interfere and the CEO will find it impossible to meet the targets set."
To have any chance of success, says Schofield, SITA's CEO needs to "be strong as an ox, have the hide of a rhinoceros and the motivational skills of Nelson Mandela". He notes SITA has spent - and will spend - billions of taxpayers' money, and so it must be accountable.
Mohapi will also have to report to Treasury and have total support for his decisions. His performance agreement should allow him to outsource, downsize and restructure as required, Schofield adds. "He must be allowed to hire on merit and build a team that can perform without fear or favour.
"Good men have tried. The good doctor needs to have a new approach, a new ingredient that has eluded his predecessors."
High hopes
Democratic Alliance shadow minister of telecoms and postal services Marian Shinn - the ministry under which SITA now falls - says Mohapi is a considerable asset to SITA, and to the department at large.
"Mohapi turned Sentech around from a failing company unable to meet its targets to, within a few years, meeting all its targets and attaining clean audits. He brought stability and pride back into Sentech with his quiet, professional style.
"As an engineer, he understood what the business was about. He was an example to the rest of the Department of Communications/Department of Telecoms and Postal Services entities on how to focus staff and resources on common goals. There were no scandals about self-enrichment or inflated procurement deals under his watch. Let's hope he brings those same qualities to SITA."
SITA has been a failing organisation for years, says Shinn. "It loses clients because on non-delivery, there are probes about shady procurement practices, and a revolving door of CEOs."
Shinn notes Mohapi has a tough road ahead, as the morale of staff and securing the stability of properly skilled management will be key challenges. "Let's hope he will be able to operate without political interference via the board."
New leaders
According to Sentech's profile on Mohapi - which has now been removed from the Web site - he is an ICT veteran, having worked at various companies in the sector, including as COO of iWayAfrica, a former Telkom subsidiary. He also served as CTO of ICT-Works.
Mohapi's academic standing includes a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a Masters degree in electrical engineering, also obtained at MIT, and a doctorate in electrical engineering (telecommunications) from Wits.
Mohapi's term at SITA ends on 31 March 2019.
Meanwhile, Sentech's finance chief since September 2013, Rudzani Rasikhinya, has been appointed acting CEO until the entity fills Mohapi's shoes. Sentech describes Rasikhinya as "a well-rounded Chartered Accountant CA (SA) with solid experience at senior management level".
Rasikhinya previously served as CFO at the Department of Home Affairs and held other various senior positions, including chief director of accounting and support at National Treasury. She also previously held senior management roles at KPMG and served on various boards, and is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Rasikhinya's achievements include a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting from the University of the North and Bcom Accounting Science (Hons)/CTA from Unisa.
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