'Government tech is the bane of my life'

By James Smith | 2 August 2008 | Permanent link | 0 comments

South Africa’s Director-General of Home Affairs has declared IT to be the “bane” of the department’s existence. Not quite a ringing endorsement, which is a pity as I know the hard work that the country’s State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has been doing over the last three years.

Apparently the Director-General in question, a certain Mavuso Msimang, is “unhappy with the unstable ICT environment” in his agency, as a result of an organisational refresh of the department’s infrastructure.

Scratch the surface and you’ll see that the ‘instability’ is being caused by the tension between SITA trying to migrate the department to the new system - and that same department’s civil servants clinging to the tried, trusted, and worn out system that they’ve grown accustomed to.

So correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks for all the world like an old fashioned change management issue. And if that’s the case then it casts someone in a rather unflattering light.

Change management requires firm leadership: a strong sense of where an organisation is going, where it’s come from, why it needs to make the journey, and what’s required to make it happen. But this firm leadership, this sense of purpose and commitment to changing staff attitudes, is not something that SITA can provide. SITA has done its job; it’s now time for our friend Mavuso Msimang, and the leadership of Home Affairs to do theirs.

Add your comment