Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the confirmation by Deputy Minister of Police, Dr Polly Boshiela, to the National Council of Provinces – Select Committee on Security and Justice, that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has “officially served its divorce papers” to the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).
In a revelation made before the Select Committee yesterday, the Deputy Minister disclosed that SAPS will no longer be bound by SITA’s outdated systems, which have for years crippled technological innovation and slowed police responsiveness. The Deputy. Minister further confirmed that the Minister of Finance has approved SAPS’s request to procure a new independent service provider for its ICT systems.
The DA has long maintained that SITA has become a digital bottleneck, a stumbling block to modern governance that has left departments like SAPS and Home Affairs trapped in inefficiency, corruption, and technological decay.
This confirmation is a victory not just for the DA’s consistent oversight efforts, but more importantly, for the millions of South Africans who rely on functional, tech-enabled police stations for their safety and security.
The Deputy Minister also revealed that she was part of the recent official delegation to China, where she was introduced to cutting-edge police technology systems. These innovations, including smart surveillance, integrated case-tracking, and data-driven policing models, highlight the urgent need for South Africa to embrace next-generation digital policing tools to strengthen investigations, accelerate case turnaround times, and improve community safety outcomes.
The DA now calls on the Minister of Police to ensure that this transition to a new ICT provider is transparent, corruption-free, and prioritises service delivery over political patronage, and will pose written questions to the Minister to ensure that transparency is kept.
This move must translate into practical upgrades at the station level from rural KwaZulu-Natal to the Free State and Eastern Cape, where communities have suffered most, due to outdated systems, broken communication tools, and unreliable databases.
This can be a turning point for South African policing. It comes at a time when SAPS has an opportunity to press the reset button.
The DA will continue to use our parliamentary oversight role to monitor the implementation of this decision, ensuring that the separation from SITA leads to real improvements in frontline policing, not just another costly government restructuring exercise.
Regards
Mzamo Billy MP
DA NCOP Member on Select Committee on Security & Justice