The State IT Agency's (SITA's) new CEO, Sithembiso Freeman Nomvalo, is determined to use his tenure to put the beleaguered organisation on a course that will deliver better results in the future.
"It is easy to sing praises for yourself. It is much more difficult to realise your inadequacies. I think we now need to focus on the challenges we have and how we are going to address those challenges," says Nomvalo.
Nomvalo is the 17thCEO in 14 years, after former CEO Blake Mosley-Lefatola's contract was unexpectedly terminated by the board at the end of last month. SITA never provided solid reasons for Mosley-Lefatola's untimely departure, but stated that, after a review of SITA's strategic direction, the board and Mosley-Lefatola agreed to an amicable parting of ways to allow him to pursue other interests outside SITA.
This has left Nomvalo with the mammoth task of righting the ship in an organisation that is facing a number of unhappy clients, various unfinished projects, disgruntled employees and a probe by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) into every tender SITA has issued in the past nine years.
Nomvalo is, however, well aware of the challenges he is facing. "We have clients who are unhappy with us. We have employees who are unhappy with us. The combination of those two things is a disaster."
According to him, the first step is to have meaningful and pointed discussions with SITA's clients to understand their concerns. He explains that interacting with clients and understanding the reasons behind their problems is vital to coming up with agreeable solutions. "Some of the concerns may be displaced or whatever. That is not important. What is important is that the concerns exist and they must be addressed," says Nomvalo.
Addressing the unhappiness of SITA employees is another priority to which Nomvalo has committed himself. He notes the responses offered to employees' concerns are not always going to be favourable to the particular individual, but reiterates that the responses will be consistent, fair and equitable.
"My stay here is for a year, and there is only so much you can do in that time to make sure the organisation succeeds. So one of the key things you have to do is to make sure you build a stronger team that is going to be able to carry out the functions that help this organisation thrive."
Unsatisfactory outcome
In response to a question on what has been achieved by the three-year turnaround strategy that has just been wrapped up, Nomvalo says it will be "premature and presumptuous" to label the strategy a failure.
"I think there are aspects that have been positive, but surely we are not where we thought we would be as an organisation," he says. "We still have clients who have serious issues after having implemented the turnaround strategy. Did we perhaps miss the point or did we miss some targets on the things we should have done? For me, there is a combination of factors."
He notes that while the strategy might have been relevant in terms of the issues it needed to address, it is possible that the implementation thereof was lacking direction. "What drives the challenges that we have in the organisation is a set of loyalties, a set of interests and a set of value systems, and if our strategy does not address itself to those adequately either in implementation or in the planning stage, then there are going to be challenges even if the strategy was indeed relevant."
Having only been at SITA for about two weeks, Nomvalo says he prefers to shy away from pinpointing specific benefits brought about by the turnaround strategy, lest he becomes "complacent".
He says he is supportive of the current investigation into SITA's tender history, emphasising if questions exist, they need to be answered. SIU spokesperson Boy Ndala announced last month that the investigation is expected to be completed by March 2015.
"We can then begin to lay to rest a number of issues that might even address some of the problems certain staff have," says Nomvalo. "We will be able to map out a way forward without unnecessary questions hanging over our heads."
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