Communications minister appeals judgment reversing dismissal of SITA board

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele is appealing a decision of the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, which set aside his decision to remove the board of directors off the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).

Gungubele appointed a ministerial task team to assist SITA to address backlogs in procurement challenges at the entity.

This emerged when DA MP Tsholofelo Bodlani asked in a parliamentary question about the steps Gungubele had taken to ensure that the poor functioning of the SITA was addressed so that the interests of South Africans who were struggling to access government services due to the poor functioning of the SITA were prioritised.

Bodlani premised her parliamentary questions on the fact that the court overturned his decision to remove the SITA’s board.

“The minister has lodged an appeal against the decision of the court. The department awaits judgment on the matter,” he said.

Gungubele said the SITA had completed its business model review with the view to aligning its business strategy and operations to client departments and ultimately the needs of citizens.

“The minister has also appointed the Ministerial Task Team (MTT), which is supporting the agency in dealing with the procurement backlog which has hampered the ability of the client departments from delivering their services effectively.

“The MTT has already facilitated the capacitation of the organisation and has ensured the improvement of the procurement process efficiencies,” he said.

In February, the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, reversed Gungubele’s decision to dismiss the board last year over the salary of former managing director Bongani Mabaso.

However, some of the board members challenged their removal, with the court ruling in their favour and slapping Gungubele with a cost order, and ordering the board’s reinstatement.

But after obtaining a legal opinion, Gungubele filed an appeal.

Cape Times

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