SITA MD quits

By Staff Writer for SITA

Johannesburg, 24 Feb 2000

JC van Niekerk quit the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) shortly after its official launch in April last year. Four months later his replacement, Tebogo Matsoso, was appointed. Now Matsoso has quit too, once again leaving the company leaderless.

Matsoso yesterday announced his resignation with immediate effect. The resignation followed a meeting by the agency's board of directors.

"We have no idea what he plans to do or where he is going," says SITA spokesman Oupa Ngwenya. Matsoso could not be reached for comment.

According to SITA, the company and MD parted on amicable terms. But once again, as in the case of Van Niekerk's resignation, staff at the agency had no prior notice of the change.

Ngwenya says it is up to the board of directors to determine how a replacement is to be found. "We have no timeframe," he responded to a question, "but we are treating the matter with some urgency."

He confirms that any appointment would depend on the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. "The support of the minister would be a core factor," Ngwenya says. The next meeting of the director's board has not yet been scheduled.

Matsoso joined SITA after a 13-year stint at the Motswedi Technology Group, which he joined as a newly qualified trainee programmer and left as MD. He formed part of the Presidential Review Commission which devised the policy of the Telecommunications Act.

SITA was formed from the InfoPlan agency last year after parliament passed the SITA Act, needed to legally allow the formation of the company with the government as sole shareholder. SITA is to eventually control the majority of government IT spend.

According to a SITA statement, Matsoso had "set in motion the company's business planning process for the year 2000/2001 which is about to reach completion". Board chairman Sello Rasethaba says in the same statement that the company's plans will be kept on track.