The State IT Agency (SITA) once again finds itself in hot water, this time with a local IT company that is taking the agency to court on grounds that it is owed millions of rands.
Software company Harebueng Holdings claims it is owed roughly R2.7 million for a pilot software program it had designed for SITA.
Since Harebueng took legal steps against SITA in 2006, the two parties have not been able to reach a settlement on the matter and Harebueng has now applied for a court date. Harebueng CEO Litisha Richardson says she has not been issued with a court date yet, but expects the case to go to trial early next year.
"You get to a point where nothing is being done and all you are getting is lip service, so you have no choice but to go the legal route," says Richardson.
Harebueng allegedly signed a contract with SITA in 2004 to develop a pilot for asset management software that was set to be rolled out to the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Social Development and the Department of Transport.
The contract was supposedly valued at R3.6 million, of which R910 000 was paid to Harebueng. That was, however, the last payment that Harebueng claims it saw.
After providing SITA with the pilot program, Harebueng began a legal battle to recover its money, as - according to Richardson - SITA refused to settle the outstanding amount, citing a number of reasons that were not agreed upon beforehand, such as the pilot's inability to be rolled out to all existing government departments.
Richardson blames the two entities' inability to reach a settlement on SITA's "lightning speed" turnover of CEOs. The agency has just appointed Sithembiso Freeman Nomvalo as its 17th CEO in 14 years.
"That is exactly the problem: every time you meet with them, there is someone else at the table," says Richardson. "And then this new person knows nothing about the contract and what has happened since, and we need to start from scratch."
According to the 2004 SITA annual report, the agency was given a grant of R17 million by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to establish "Master Systems Plan projects".
Although it is unclear what these projects entail, Richardson says the asset management software pilot developed by Harebueng was also supposed to be paid by this grant. "If SITA was given R17 million by the DBSA, where is that money now and why are they unable to pay us?"
SITA spokesperson Jeanny Morulane confirmed the matter is currently before the court, but says "as the matter is sub judice, we must allow the legal processes to run their full course".
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