In a statement, Sita spokesman Tlali Tlali said government departments are still required to approach Sita first for their IT needs, with the option to procure services from elsewhere only available should the agency not be able to fulfil their requirements.
"The narrative that departments are now free to bypass Sita entirely is misleading," Tlali said in the statement. "The new regulation does not grant government departments unfettered access to open markets. Departments can only seek alternative service providers when Sita fails to meet their requirements in terms of pricing and/or turnaround times."
Communications minister Solly Malatsi in May gazetted changes to the Sita Act, disrupting the agency's legal stranglehold as the sole provider of core IT services for all of government.
Several government departments, including police and home affairs, have bemoaned inefficiencies in Sita's procurement processes, accusing the agency of delaying and even derailing critical IT projects.
Slow response times, higher than market pricing and subpar security practices are among the litany of criticisms that have been made by government departments. Both home affairs and police went as far as approaching parliament to seek formal exemptions from using Sita.