Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan earlier this year lashed government departments and agencies for spending just R178 billion of a planned R260 billion for the 2010/11 tax year. Technology was one of the areas where many government departments struggled to spend their allocated budgets.

The result is that the IT industry has lost out on substantial revenue from a sector that is one of the largest customers for its products and services. Government accounts for around a quarter of IT spending in South Africa, according to market researcher IDC. Worse still, projects key to improving public service efficiency or enhancing service to citizens have faltered over the past few years.