SITA turmoil bypasses GijimaAST

By Leon Engelbrecht for Gijima
Johannesburg, 05 Aug 2008

GijimaAST, the main sponsor of last week's GovTech summit and also one of the companies at the centre of the fallout between State IT Agency CEO Llewellyn Jones and government CIO Michelle Williams, says it is remaining above the fray.

GovTech was dominated by the resignation of Jones, after Williams allegedly instructed him to award a R1.5 million business process management deal for the Departments of Home Affairs, Social Development and Justice, to a company other than the one chosen by the SITA Bid Evaluation Committee. Gijima AST was chosen as the initial winner of the deal.

The deal had not yet been publicly awarded.

GijimaAST marketing and transformation manager Sunil Bodasing says the alleged spat does not affect the company or any of its current government business, such as its work on the R2.5 billion Home Affairs department's "Who am I" identity management project.

That award also came in for some sniping as current CEO Jonas Bogoshi was previously SITA's chief of strategic services. Home Affairs minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has since referred the matter to the Auditor-General for independent verification that all was in order.

Jones has also said he was satisfied the tender was properly adjudicated and awarded.

Meanwhile, GijimaAST's three-year diamond sponsorship of GovTech also ended last week, but Bodasing says the company is keen to continue.