Room for other partners, says SITA

By Dave Glazier for SITA
Johannesburg, 21 Apr 2006

The State IT Agency (SITA) has backtracked on its announcement of five key private sector partners, following strong reaction from industry players, and stressed there is room for cooperation with other companies.

SITA has received numerous calls from industry players, says a statement attributed to CEO Mavuso Msimang by SITA's communications department. The statement adds that "most people are worried that we have pre-selected the partners we will be working with".

SITA says although Business Connexion, Dimension Data, IBM, GijimaAst and SAP are top of the list, other companies will still have opportunities to work with government in the IT sector.

Newly-appointed COO Noedine Isaacs-Mpulo, who made the initial announcement, had previously stated that discussions with the 'big five' are focused around discovering business opportunities and ways to build skills.

Contradictions

The official line from the communications department now contradicts the COO: "SITA has not, in fact, chosen its industry partners... it has embarked on a strategy that seeks greater and more structured private-sector engagement in the delivery of ICT services to government."

Msimang goes further, saying: "We actually have no specific relationship with those five companies."

SITA plans to host more private sector consultations in the coming months, culminating in an ICT Indaba to be held in August, adds Mamabolo.