Big change for IT services in South Africa

Communications minister Solly Malatsi has gazetted new regulations allowing government departments to sidestep the State Information Technology Agency (Sita) when procuring IT products and services.

Following consultation with the finance minister, the Sita Act 1998 has been amended to include an “Efficiency of Procurement” section, specifying the conditions for such exemptions.

The section explains that the designated department must issue a notice to Sita setting out the business case, user requirement specifications, and the period in which it requires certain IT goods or services.

The agency then has ten working days to indicate whether it has the capacity to procure these, as well as the procurement schedule for delivery and cost of the service.

The department will be allowed to procure the IT services and goods services directly from private companies in accordance with general procurement prescripts if:

• The agency does not respond within 10 working days
• The agency indicates it is unable to meet the requirements within the specified time
• The agency thinks the acquiring department can procure them for faster or at a lower cost

The department must notify Sita and Treasury of its decision to go directly to the market.

The gazette comes after Malatsi published a statement explaining the reasons for the planned regulations.

The minister said that the regulations enjoyed overwhelming support from ministers and provincial governments, and had been requested by several departments for some time.

“The flexibility can improve public services for all South Africans by ensuring that the government can respond faster and spend resources more efficiently,” Malatsi said.

The minister said that this was something which several government departments had requested for some time.

Malatsi also argued the regulations could reduce demand on Sita, allowing the agency to shift its attention from smaller departments to larger customers, like the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

Home Affairs wants to ditch Sita

However, Home Affairs has also formally applied to be exempted from using Sita for its ICT equipment and services.

In its 2025/2026 Annual Performance Plan, Home Affairs blamed the agency’s poor performance for slowing down the department’s operations and preventing its modernisation.

Although the department acknowledged its outdated infrastructure and funding shortages were hampering a full digital transformation, it stressed it was fully at the mercy of Sita for IT needs.

“The DHA has long experienced challenges with Sita, primarily due to system downtime, delayed procurement processes, and excessive costs,” the plan stated.

The department said the issue disrupted its ability to maintain reliable infrastructure and meet strategic objectives.

Home Affairs highlighted specific critical projects that have been hampered by Sita’s inadequacies, including the Biometric Movement Control System and the Automatic Biometric Information System.

In addition to extended system outages and slow response times, the department said that Sita’s failures could compromise national security at ports of entry and undermine border management.

“To successfully transition away from Sita, the DHA is exploring partnerships with private IT providers that can deliver robust, secure, and high-availability services,” the department said.

“These alternatives are expected to reduce downtime, streamline procurement processes, and optimise costs.”

Home Affairs minister Leon Schreiber has been vocal about moving as many Home Affairs services online as possible, which will require significant upgrades of the department’s existing systems.

Whether the DHA is allowed to bypass Sita or if the agency will be able to dedicate more resources to the department, the result should be more effective and reliable online Home Affairs services.