New kid on the block

 Blake Mosley-Lefatola

Can Blake Mosley-Lefatola salvage SITA?

Meet Blake Mosley-Lefatola. Until recently, CEO of the Gauteng Economic Development Agency, Mosley-Lefatola is the State IT Agency's (SITA) 15th CEO since its inception 11 years ago.

His entry comes at a critical juncture: the beleaguered agency is undergoing its umpteenth attempt at a turnaround, clinging desperately to the much-played line that this time will be different.

It had better be, as this is probably the last chance Parliament will give it to redeem itself.

Given the perilous position of government`s ICT supplier and advisor - and the two-and-a-half years it`s taken to find a permanent CEO to captain the organisation - one would expect the new appointee to be a heavyweight in the field. Perhaps an established operator with experience in reinventing enterprise-sized ICT organisations, a power-player with the vision required to leap-frog rapidly outdating technologies and operational methodologies. This would surely have been the obvious solution to SITA`s woes.

However, as is apparent in Mosley-Lefatola`s appointment, government has opted to take an altogether less immediately-evident route. Indeed, even the most creative of spin-doctors would struggle to tie such attributes to Mosley-Lefatola, particularly given the complete absence of technology or its underlying market within his r sum .

He says he is excited and eager to undertake the challenge of SITA`s turnaround. Through working together, I have no doubt that the ministry, the senior management team and the board will be able to take this organisation to new heights," he says.

Which leads to the one advantage he has on his side: currently, only four of the eight executive positions are filled with permanent placements. This means Mosley-Lefatola will have a hand in selecting his supporting team.

As Mosley-Lefatola takes SITA`s reins in hand, he says his guiding principle is governance, a principle he intends to share with his new colleagues.

"As an organisation and as a team we simply must be committed to good and clean governance where fraud, mismanagement and maladministration are unable to take hold. Without governance, we will continue to be plagued by events that damage our image and reputation. What we do has to be done properly, it is critical that the SITA team understand this," he explains.

This guiding principle is followed closely by an underlying drive to improve service delivery, both within its organisation and to its customers. "We may work with government departments and their entities, but our client ultimately is the taxpayer, you and me. We owe it to ourselves as citizens to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and affordability of government services," says Mosley-Lefatola.

Mosley-Lefatola`s absence of knowledge and experience in the ICT arena certainly made an impact on the marketplace.

For industry players, the appointment came out of left field and left most agog in its wake. One SITA supplier says at first he was convinced the media had been caught in a public sector ruse.

"We`d never heard of this guy and the people we deal with at SITA were also confused. When it became clear that the posting was legitimate, we had to go hunting for information on Mosley-Lefatola. I find government`s selection just as disjointed," he says.

An integrator that operates in the public space agrees: "I can see the immediate benefits that Mosley-Lefatola could bring in terms of settling the operational and business process sides of the organisation. But once that is done, focus will have to turn to where the organisation wants to lead government. The ICT arena moves at a ridiculous speed, I can`t see how Mosley-Lefatola could educate himself to the level required to lead an ICT organisation, never mind determine the technological direction of all of government`s departments and entities."

SITA employees are also unsure of what to expect at this stage. Where once there was blind faith in the knowledge and aptitude of the executive committee, there is now doubt and questioning of the advisability of what they have been promised is a "strategy".

"We don`t know what to believe anymore. Management comes and goes so quickly there`s no point in trying to remember their names. All the goings-on upstairs mean we don`t have the support and direction on the ground that we need. And how is this new guy going to help us when he doesn`t even know what we are dealing with?" a frustrated employee comments.

Despite the many cynics, quick to point out Mosley-Lefatola`s ICT deficits, there is a growing opinion that those skills that the new CEO brings to the table may be exactly what have been missing all along. After all, Mosley-Lefatola`s predecessors had the technology credentials and could only deliver a succession of failures, notes one industry observer. By all accounts, these executives - some of whom came with a catalogue of industry accolades supporting their ability - faltered in the face of the political nuances inherent in public sector organisations.

An ingenious idea?

In this regard, Mosley-Lefatola has an impressive record, dating back to the early 90s where he played technical advisor to delegations seeking an end to the apartheid-run local government structures. From this juncture, Mosley-Lefatola moved up the public sector ladder, taking on increasingly influential roles and making a name for himself as a manager - particularly in the municipal sphere - that effortlessly maintained the balance between political oversight bodies and operational responsibilities. What`s more, Mosley-Lefatola could be counted on to ensure minimum fuss resulted from sticky situations such as facilitating the exit of outspoken personnel.

This adroit management of stakeholder relationships ultimately resulted in Mosley-Lefatola escaping much of the critical press that is regularly afforded to municipal managers. In the single high-profile occasion where he found his engagements as municipal manager with Tshwane mayor Gwen Ramokgopa untenable, his resignation resulted in an outcry from the community, co-workers and even opposition politicians. Despite widespread rumours and a leaked preliminary report, which fingered Mosley-Lefatola in tender irregularities, support firmly backed the exiting operations expert. The final report into the tenders in question cleared Mosley-Lefatola of any wrong-doing.

Black IT Forum (BITF) national chairman Darryl Dennis says it is this ability to manage expectations in a political space that has been sorely missing from SITA.

"Whichever way you look at it, SITA`s first role is one of managing the political relationships that come with servicing public sector bodies. The government department or entity needs to know that SITA understands its drivers, is sensitive to its challenges and committed to working with the body on delivering in terms of its objectives. The solution required may be a server in technical terms, but that is rarely of interest to the government organisation. The solution it seeks speaks to responding to citizens faster, identifying service delivery hiccups quicker or increased efficiency and effectiveness in the roll out of services," he explains.

SITA`s inability to respond in the manner government requires has been a constant frustration to the various departments and divisions, continues Dennis, resulting in rapidly degenerating relationships and a growing number of attempts to bypass the state agency in the ICT procurement process.

Knight in shining armour

The matter is made worse by a lack of political backing for both SITA and use of technology among government`s top structures, says Dennis.

Currently, ICT slots into four government departments: Communications, Public Enterprises (through its oversight of Broadband Infraco), Public Service and Administration and Science and Technology.

"The fact is technology does not make it onto Cabinet`s agenda and it`s unlikely to ever do so without a dedicated political owner. Public Service and Administration could potentially stand up as government`s ICT owner by virtue of SITA, but its minister has such a broad portfolio that the person in the position is simply unable to give ICT the attention it requires. As a result, the rest of the Cabinet hardly gives technology a thought, except when a reason is needed for failure to deliver against an objective. This in turn can`t really be argued, as no one knows what is happening outside of his or her own laptop bag, it`s simply not required," explains Dennis.

It`s no surprise then that government`s ICT environment is such a hodgepodge of disparate technologies, unlikely to ever play tea-party with its counterparts in other departments.

"There is of course a heavy price tag that always underpins such widely dispersed, contrary environments. And it`s not just the obvious portion of taxpayer money which is wasted in missing opportunities to benefit from economies of scale and increased costs of integration; but in the service delivery improvements - those golden nuggets so eagerly pursued by government`s political owners - that simply go to waste," Dennis highlights.

The BITF has in recent years started lobbying for a ministry to be established that pulls together all of government`s ICT investments and focuses on driving effective technology platforms to support service delivery. And by the looks of decisions in the ruling party, its campaigning has put down roots and begun to produce shoots of future change.

Although an additional ministry has not been mentioned, the ANC concluded last year`s National General Council with a decision that the multiple ICT organisations within government`s stable be consolidated and brought under the supervision of one political owner. In preparation of this move, the mid-term strategy convention agreed that an audit should be conducted on the separate organisations to "determine effectiveness and relevance".

In the months following the NGC, President Jacob Zuma" rel=tag>Jacob Zuma assembled a task team to conduct such an audit on all of government`s state-owned entities. If the Presidency is following the directives of the policy conference, then Mosley-Lefatola could soon find his newly gained empire swallowed into a much larger entity.

"We have to be realistic and accept that this would probably be the best possible outcome for SITA. It`s been a continuous stream of disappointment and frustration for partners and customers since the agency`s inception 11 years back. Even Mavuso Msimang [Sita CEO Nov 03 to May 07] was forced to spend most of his time trying to clean up the mess that had been passed over to him. Restoring confidence now would simply be impossible, regardless of who was placed in charge of the organisation," comments Dennis.

Dennis` point is reiterated by industry insiders who point out that many of SITA`s customers are beyond patience, and unwilling to halt their plans in order to see if Mosley-Lefatola can perform miracles.

"We`re not talking about those levels of government that can use their discretion in engaging with SITA or directly without the market - those levels have long deserted the agency. Now it`s the national departments that are looking for loopholes in the SITA act. Failing that, they are willing to approach National Treasury for a sick note. They are not even willing to engage in discussion with SITA anymore. And Treasury will most likely be sympathetic. It`s an election year; government cannot wait two years for business requirements to be turned into a short-list... that would be suicide."

Things might yet work out for Mosley-Lefatola, however. If consolidation of the various public-sector ICT entities is around the corner, as the BITF hopes, then SITA`s new CEO may have been deployed to the post to prepare SITA`s staff for an altogether more efficient environment, one he could be earmarked to lead.