State Information Technology Agency (SITA) has appointed Ms Itumeleng Draaijer as Executive: Strategy and Corporate Services and Ms Portia Matsena as Chief Digital Officer, effective from November 2026. The appointments form part of the Agency’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its executive leadership and organisational capacity.
Draaijer brings more than 20 years of professional and managerial experience, with expertise in corporate strategy, organisational performance, stakeholder relations and business operations. She has held leadership positions at the Development Bank of Southern Africa, South African Bureau of Standards, National Prosecuting Authority and Accenture, among other institutions.
Matsena joins the executive team with more than 20 years of leadership experience across banking, government, information and communications technology, and digital transformation. Her career includes senior roles at Absa, BankservAfrica, Gijima and the South African Post Office, as well as previous experience at SITA. In her new role, she will lead the Agency’s digital transformation agenda, including the responsible adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
“The work of stabilising SITA is inseparable from preparing it to serve government in a rapidly changing digital era. These appointments are about building an executive team that can govern responsibly, execute with discipline and understand the significance of SITA’s mandate to the country,” said SITA Managing Director Magatho Mello.
“Each executive brings depth of experience to a critical area of the organisation. Together, they strengthen the leadership capability SITA needs to deepen accountability, build institutional confidence and support government’s digital transformation. Our responsibility is to ensure that technology delivers practical public value, protects South Africa’s digital interests and enables the state to serve people more effectively,” he added.