Police ditch South African state IT agency

The Minister of Finance has approved the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) application to be exempted from using the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) to procure its ICT equipment and services.

According to a press release from Democratic Alliance National Council of Provinces Member Mzamo Billy, Deputy Minister of Police Dr Polly Boshiela announced this in Parliament on Thursday.

He says that Boishiela was addressing the NCOP’s Select Committee on Security and Justice.

“The Deputy Minister confirmed that the Minister of Finance has approved SAPS’s request to procure a new independent service provider for its ICT systems,” Mzamo said.

“The DA has long maintained that SITA has become a digital bottleneck, a stumbling block to modern governance that has left departments like SAPS and Home Affairs trapped in inefficiency, corruption, and technological decay.”

However, SITA’s head of corporate affairs, Tlali Tlali, says that the state-owned entity still maintains a working relationship with SAPS and has not been advised otherwise.

“The relationship we have with SAPS is in line with the existing Business Agreement. We have not been advised differently about any plans or decisions that may have a bearing on our future relationship,” Tlali told Newsday.

“We believe and remain confident that the established communication protocols will be explored to convey messages and such changes that not only have significant operational implications but also financial and legal ones as well.”

Mzamo referred to SITA’s outdated system as having “crippled technological innovation and slowed police responsiveness.”

Tlali says that it is “unfair and arguable” to attribute blame to SITA, “as it does not own the ICT systems referred to.”

“The decision to maintain the current systems or modernise them rests with the client,” he added.

Newsday reached out to the Ministry of Police but was referred to SAPS. Comment will be added once received.

All state departments were previously mandated by the SITA Act to procure all ICT infrastructure and services through the agency.

However, Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Solly Malatsi amended the Act following complaints directed to his department about the agency’s inefficiencies.

According to Mzamo, Boishiela also revealed that she had been part of a recent visit to China, where she was introduced to cutting-edge police technology systems.

He said these include smart surveillance, integrated case-tracking, and data-driven policing models.

“These highlight the urgent need for South Africa to embrace next-generation digital policing tools to strengthen investigations, accelerate case turnaround times, and improve community safety outcomes,” he said.

SAPS following in the footsteps of Home Affairs

SAPS is not the first to ditch SITA as a service provider. Earlier this year, the Department of Home Affairs formally applied for exemption from using SITA to procure ICT equipment and services.

The Department argued that the IT agency’s poor performance slowed its operations and hindered its ability to realise its modernisation goals.

“Furthermore, SITA’s inefficiencies in managing third-party contracts, such as with BCX and Telkom, have exacerbated operational risks, affecting national security and service delivery,” the department said.

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

Who was to blame for the department’s frequent system downtime had been a point of contention between Home Affairs ministers and SITA for some time.

Former Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi even went as far as calling his department’s SITA-provided IT system its “original sin.”

However, SITA CEO Luvuyo Keyise argued that the reason for the system’s poor performance was that the client had purchased the most affordable service.

“They buy a bronze service, which offers a 16-business-hour turnaround time on issues,” Keyise said. MyBroadband reported that the bronze plan provided a single 2Mbps copper-based ADSL connection with a basic service level agreement.