SARS, SITA outline e-govt vision

By Dave Glazier for SITA
Johannesburg, 29 Jun 2006

The State IT Agency (SITA) has unveiled plans for a comprehensive Web portal, allowing people to coordinate and simplify all interactions with public departments.

"We have formed a partnership with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), using the infrastructure it used for its e-filing system," chief director of strategic services at SITA, Jonas Bogoshi, tells ITWeb.

Bogoshi says if someone loses their wallet, for example, instead of having to go to the police station to get a case number, the traffic department to get a new driver's licence and home affairs to get a new identity book, all processes will be automated.

"Our vision is that citizens can go to this Web site and have one interface with government."

Bogoshi indicates 2009 as the tentative date for the service to be up and running.

Tender

SARS recently reaffirmed its commitment to improving its networks, in light of services such as e-filing.

This statement was, however, issued on the same day as the announcement that a R1.5 billion tender to replace SARS's voice and data networks had been sent back to the drawing board, with a revised tender document to be issued within the next two months.

The changeover in the SARS CIO's office, with Barry Hore (as acting CIO) replacing Ken Jarvis, has had no impact on the understanding between SITA and SARS and plans for the future, says Bogoshi.

The SARS e-filing system utilises a system architecture that could be extended to become government-wide, and allow for coordination between departments, he says.

The long-term vision outline follows Bogoshi's statement of earlier that evening that SITA would also make a move away from provision of services. "Over time SITA must migrate towards being a regulator," he said.