Bang for our bucks? Procurement reform needed to help SAPS keep up with the crooks
Outdated state procurement policy is enabling criminals to outpace police in the race to adopt digital technology.
Reports of abalone poachers using surveillance drones to avoid arrest highlight the need for smarter policing in the fight against high-tech crime.
Law enforcement stakeholders say police stations and officers are still largely under-equipped despite enjoying a relatively large ICT budget compared with other government departments.
Most of the SAPS ICT budget is currently channelled through the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) despite concerns about SITA management and performance. This is cause for concern, particularly in light of the urgent need for SAPS to enhance their ICT capabilities.
SITA problems have been well documented. Late last year, Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi appeared before parliament’s communications committee to answer questions about an irregular R1,2-billion tender it facilitated for the Western Cape Education Department. Tender irregularities were detailed in a forensic report from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH).
SITA concerns are nothing new. They featured three years ago in the state’s own Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) report into SAPS expenditure, which flagged the high costs incurred for SITA services rendered. The report recommended a thorough assessment of SAP’s ICT environment.
But rather than address the concerns, the ICT environment appears to have got worse.
The Cape Chamber believes the critical SAPS ICT budget requires better oversight and implementation. Most police stations have little to show for years of upgrades and ICT investment. R2,845-billion was set aside for technological advancements in the 2024/25 financial year. And R670-million was allocated for construction and upgrading of police stations in the current financial year.
Are we getting our money’s worth? It would appear not.
Where there have been improvements it is often thanks to private sector involvement, which provides a clue to future success. Allowing SAPS to benefit from private sector expertise through meaningful partnership – and oversight – may just be the most practical way of making up for lost time in the fight against crime.
We cannot allow procurement problems to handicap an increasingly demoralised SAPS.
In our view the SITA is a lost cause. Government should end the SITA monopoly as the SAPS technology service provider.
