Bongani Mabaso

Nestled in the leafy suburb of Erasmuskloof in Pretoria is the head office of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the official provider of IT for the government. Security is tight. Guards check your car’s boot, and want to know the serial number of your laptop. There’s an airport scanner at the front door, and a biometric fingerprint scanner outside the CEO’s office. SITA’s new CEO, Dr Bongani Andy Mabaso, says he has an open door policy, because “that’s when you get to the real issues, when you’re talking to the people on the ground.”

Mabaso, who took the reins on April 1, has the task of transforming the agency into an entity that seamlessly facilitates and implements IT-driven services and solutions that support the business of departments and national and local government. SITA is an agent of the South African government, in accordance with the SITA Act. The Minister in the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) is the shareholder on behalf of the state. Mabaso has a Ph.D in machine ethics and computational morality from the University of Pretoria and a B.Sc in engineering from UCT. He has also served as CIO for digital and customer journeys at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking, and worked at Transnet, as executive research manager in its engineering division.