The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has appointed banking industry and technology executive Portia Matsena as its chief digital officer (CDO).
This comes as government’s ICT procurement arm makes progress towards filling key executive positions, including supply chain management, client engagement, executive for IT infrastructure services and now CDO.
Taking to her LinkedIn profile yesterday, Matsena wrote: “I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as chief digital officer at SITA SOC. A Sitazen for the citizens.”
Until her appointment at SITA, Matsena served as divisional executive for hyper-automation at big-four Nedbank, from August 2023 to November 2026.
In 2022 and 2023, she was managing director: cash management South Africa at Absa Group. Prior to that, she was chief information officer (CIO) at BankservAfrica (now PayInc) for two years and was also acting group CIO of the South African Post Office.
Her other positions include at Kansai Plascon, National Treasury, as well as the head of department: IFMS at SITA in the Western Cape provincial government, among others.
Commenting on her appointment, Matsena says it’s an opportunity to contribute to a national agenda in which technology enables citizen-centred public services.
“Throughout my career, technology had to serve a purpose greater than building systems,” she says. “It must improve lives, create opportunities and address real societal challenges.
“The citizen is not simply a customer who can choose another provider. Citizens depend on government services for their livelihoods, dignity and fundamental rights.”
The CDO sees SITA as a strategic enabler of a more connected and responsive state. “What attracted me was the magnitude of the responsibility. SITA occupies a critical position in South Africa’s digital transformation journey.”
Matsena holds a post-graduate qualification from University of Texas at Austin, an MBA in finance and financial management services from University of South Africa, as well as Master of Commerce from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
An entity of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, SITA sits as a central pillar of government's IT procurement. It is responsible for developing, operating and/or maintaining ICT services consumed by government departments.
SITA has often faced criticism for heavy reliance on manual systems, particularly given its mandate as the institution responsible for digitalisation and modernisation of the state.
Government also faces increasing pressure to modernise legacy systems, improve interoperability, strengthen cyber security and deliver accessible, reliable digital services to citizens.
Given the historical challenges, including executive leadership gaps, the beleaguered entity has focused on stabilisation and a recovery plan.
Its CDO role is an important one that SITA has been looking to fill.
In August, SITA MD Magatho Mello told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies that the entity was looking to fill several executive positions, including the CDO role.
He explained that in SITA’s “amended structure”, the CIO will report to the CDO. As a result, it was prudent that SITA appoint a CDO first and then move to appoint a CIO, said Mello at the time.
In 2024, the agency advertised for the post, saying the successful candidate would be responsible for “developing and implementing a digital strategy, work with cross-functional stakeholders to map and transition traditional processes to digital capabilities”.
ITWeb reported in 2019 on the appointment of SITA’s CDO which, at the time, was former BCX CIO Jacques Loubser.
His role was to lead SITA’s digital transformation and fourth industrial revolution strategies, said Loubser at the time, explaining the CDO role was part of SITA’s new journey, with a focus on ensuring the agency achieves its initiatives.
Based on his LinkedIn profile, Loubser was at SITA from February 2019 to July 2020.
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