The State Information Technology Agency (Sita) has unveiled plans aimed at improving its services in the wake of increased client dissatisfaction, the state news agency BuaNews reported on Wednesday.
Sita CEO Mavuso Msimang said the turnaround strategy was devised following increased complaints regarding its services, pricing and management.
“We did an intensive employee and service delivery survey and we found that we were not on par with what was demanded in this industry,” he said.
While the survey showed the company is very successful in relation to mainframe management such as payroll and financial systems, it also revealed that the biggest problem relates to its procurement services.
The main challenge facing Sita’s IT Acquisitions Centre (Itac) is that its directive remains unclear. Msimang cited an example whereby lower ranked officials within a particular department would forward certain requisitions to Sita.
The problem this creates is a duplication of duties as Sita, Msimang notes, would then tender for what has been requested, “and when we reply with our report to the department, the process is cancelled”.
According to Sita processes any procurement above R1-million must follow an Itac process.
“This results in Sita looking incompetent. Therefore in future we will only accept procurement requests from the director general within a particular department,” he added.
In an effort to streamline the processes Sita is engaged in discussions with the Department of Public Service and Administration, the National Treasury and various industry consultants.
“A new procurement model is being worked on and we expect it to be ready by July. This new model should show clients a marked improvement in this process,” he added.
“We will also be prioritising citizen-focused projects such as training and internship programmes as this is a very important social obligation. We need to help the youth in order for them to improve themselves.” — I-Net Bridge