State IT Agency deputy chairperson and government CIO Michelle Williams has stepped down from her position on the agency's board.
The move, late last week, was confirmed by Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) spokesman Sefako Nyaka.
However, Nyaka refused to be drawn on reasons for Williams' resignation, saying the department does not comment on such matters. Williams also did not respond to questions from ITWeb.
The DPSA did confirm that Williams remains in its employ in her capacity as government CIO.
Williams' tenure as SITA's deputy chairperson was often surrounded by controversy, with a recent internal risk assessment report accusing her of bringing the agency into “further disrepute”.
The report, compiled by enterprise risk assessment firm Henderson Solutions, uncovered large-scale fraud and corruption plaguing the agency's procurement processes, and its findings were published by ITWeb last month.
The 613-page document also points to Williams' 26% interest in a company called Tswelopele Engineering. Her status as an active director of this company has been confirmed through the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office records.
The report further unveils that Tswelopele Engineering owns a subsidiary, Tswelopele Solutions, a company active in the IT sector. It concludes that Williams' involvement in Tswelopele Engineering and Tswelopele Solutions makes for “clearly significant grounds for asserting this relationship is in clear conflict of interest”.
Williams has, in the past, denied this and was previously backed by former minister of public service and administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. Fraser-Moleketi told ITWeb last year that there is no problem with Williams' business interests, which are legal in terms of government's financial disclosure rules. Williams also claims she has no direct or indirect links to Tswelopele Solutions.
Conspiracy theory
In a Mail and Guardian article last month, Williams stated that there is a campaign to discredit her in the wake of the resignation of former SITA CEO Llewellyn Jones. She claimed that this campaign is being headed by a senior SITA executive, Henderson Solutions head Bart Henderson, and an IT journalist.
In August last year, Williams was at the centre of a storm surrounding the abrupt departure of Jones, who had been at the helm of the agency for a mere nine months. It was alleged that Jones' resignation was prompted by interference from Williams, who instructed him, via SMS, to award a R1.5 million tender to Praxis Consulting instead of GijimaAST, while the latter was selected by SITA's bid evaluation committee.
Subsequently, an auditor-general's investigation - requested by SITA - cleared Williams of all wrongdoing in the matter.
Following the departure of Fraser-Moleketi from the DPSA last year - in light of the ANC recalling former President Thabo Mbeki - Richard Baloyi took over the portfolio. The new minister acknowledged major problems within SITA, including board interference in the daily running of the agency, and hinted that the organisation could well be in for a purge.
Baloyi subsequently established a task team to investigate SITA and its internal processes, but the results of the findings have yet to be released. The only tangible outcome of this investigation was the establishment of a three-member interim CEO team to lead SITA, as well as the introduction of a ministerial advisor to help with the running the of the agency.
The DPSA has yet to comment on the contents of the report compiled by Henderson Solutions, and Baloyi has promised to announce a turnaround strategy for the agency soon. Part of this plan is to also find a permanent CEO for SITA, which has been plagued by a leadership dearth since its inception a decade ago.
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