The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and the State IT Agency (SITA) have failed to deliver vital IT governance and security frameworks to SA's national departments.
This is despite repeated promises that both entities would be turned around.
According to the auditor-general's (AG's) latest general report, on national audit outcomes for the year to March, of the 38 national departments audited, 81% did not have full security management systems in place; and 79% did not have a complete IT governance framework.
The AG notes public sector departments and public entities are “heavily reliant on IT systems to perform their statutory financial management, reporting and administrative functions”.
Communication dearth
The root cause of the lack of IT governance is the delay at the DPSA in developing and implementing the framework, while the department has also not approved and rolled out a government-wide IT security policy.
The AG said the DPSA must roll out IT governance and security frameworks so they can be implemented by departments, and make sure they have the necessary implementation skills. According to the report, the former public service and administration minister, Richard Baloyi, had “committed to developing and implementing a government-wide IT governance framework”.
“Although the framework has not been finalised, the minister has demonstrated his commitment to completing the project through various sessions held with leadership within government.”
Missing service
SITA has, in the past, deployed several turnaround strategies; however, it has continued to be plagued by several challenges.
Cabinet adopted a three-year turnaround strategy for SITA in March 2010, as, a decade after its inception, it was in crisis, the agency noted. It said part of the crisis was a failure to incorporate government departments into SITA, due to the dissatisfaction with its service levels and standards.
SITA previously said its service delivery is poor, inconsistent and, in some cases, non-existent. “Services are expensive, non-value-adding and a burden,” adds the agency.
No political will
Mark Walker, director of insights and vertical industries for IDC's Middle East, Africa and Turkey region, says the problem comes down to a lack of direction and leadership from the top to develop a national ICT policy.
Walker points out that SA, Africa's powerhouse, does not have such a framework in place, while countries like Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania do. “Everybody is doing their own thing... it's been let to happen as may be.”
Constant top-level changes within the ministry and SITA means there is never any follow through or predictability, says Walker. SITA has had 14 CEOs in 10 years.
Recently installed public service and administration minister Roy Padayachie, who was placed in the position last October, has “a hell of a job on his hands,” Walker adds.
Shedding the past
Neither SITA nor the DPSA responded to specific questions around when the vital frameworks would be delivered to departments.
However, SITA spokesperson Anthea Summers says SITA is in the second year of implementing its turnaround strategy and has a new “organisational vision and mission”. She says the appointment of a CEO, COO and executive to drive its turnaround is “common knowledge”.
Summers says, in November 2011, managers went through competency assessments to give the organisation an overview of its skills base, and what is required. “We are looking to break with the past, its negative perceptions, and rebuild a credible and customer-centred organisation.”
SITA is “focusing on producing an end-to-end service that meets clients' demands and expectations; and we have increased our portfolio of services substantively”, says Summers. “The SITA transformation story is one that is breaking with the past in a profound way.”
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