State’s technology agency vows to crackdown on graft

THE State Information Technology Agency (Sita) has full control of all government IT systems and will ensure that they cannot be manipulated or shut down by outside organisations.

That was the message delivered by Sita chief executive‚ Setumo Mohapi‚ in Pretoria yesterday.

Sita has been embroiled in controversy over allegations of rampant corruption and its apparent lack of control around IT programmes and systems designed for the police and other government departments.

In April‚ Forensic Data Analysis (FDA)‚ which is run by controversial businessman and former policeman Keith Keating‚ shut down several police systems over a pay dispute. The matter is currently before court.

FDA has reportedly made R5.4-billion off the police in deals‚ which Mohapi labelled as “questionable”. He said Keating had been completely locked out of the police systems and would not be able to turn them off again.

For months‚ Sita executives have been hauled over the coals by parliament’s standing committee on public accounts‚ which has demanded explanations over alleged corrupt business dealings between FDA and SAPS.

Mohapi told journalists yesterday Sita was working closely with the Hawks to fully uncover the level of corruption which had occurred.

“Some of the monies which have been paid in these deals shows‚ in our view‚ extensive levels of collusion. Programmes and systems have been bought for astronomical prices‚ when the very same systems were bought five or 10 years before. Inspections of the so-called new systems show they are exactly the same as the old systems‚ just more costly‚” he said. — DDC