The State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has asked communications minister Solly Malatsi to approve the appointment of Gopal Reddy as its acting managing director.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Reddy is currently a senior manager for service management SITA.
Simphiwe Dzengwa was the acting managing director from February last year.
Malatsi recently directed SITA to finalise the process of recommending suitable candidates for the acting MD position as a matter of urgency.
This, after the agency erroneously issued communication regarding the appointment of an acting MD to assume duties on 5 February 2025, without ministerial approval, as is required by law.
SITA is an entity of the DCDT that is charged with provisioning and procuring ICT goods and services on behalf of government departments and public entities. The department is headed by minister Solly Malatsi, under the Government of National Unity.
In a letter seen by ITWeb to the minister, Makano Mosidi, chairperson of the SITA board, says: “I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your letter regarding the recommendation to the board to appoint Mr Gopal Reddy as acting managing director.
“The board of directors at its in-committee special board meeting held on 31 January 2025 resolved to appoint Mr Gopal Reddy as acting managing director from 5 February 2025 for a period of three months.”
Mosidi adds that for business continuity and risk mitigation, the board has also resolved to transfer the delegation of authority for the MD to Reddy with immediate effect or implement joint decision-making by the acting managing director and the acting managing director designate for all organisational decisions with immediate effect; and to obtain final approval of Malatsi for the appointment of Reddy effective 5 February for three months.
“The minister is kindly requested to approve the appointment of Mr Gopal Reddy as the Acting MD for SITA with effect from 5 February 2025 for three months,” the letter reads.
Leadership instability at the government IT procurement agency is among the critical issues that plague SITA, and forms part of the investigation being conducted by the Public Service Commission into the entity’s affairs.
Over the years, the agency has had less than three executive heads stay the duration of their employment term, with many leaving within three months, to a little over a year.
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