ICT charter 'ready by next week`

By Itumeleng Mogaki, ITWeb junior journalist

Johannesburg, 29 Apr 2005

The ICT empowerment charter steering committee says its members have been working practically around the clock to address the issues raised by various sub-sectors at last week`s hearings on the final draft of the charter. The committee expects to present the document to government by next week.

This comes after a last-minute submission by the Electronics Industry Federation (EIF) this month, which said the EIF could have to adopt the Department of Trade and Industry`s Code of Good Practice instead of the ICT industry charter. Questions were also raised in the past few weeks by sub-sectors that are already regulated, as well as by the SMME Forum and multinationals.

Joe Mjwara, chairman of the ICT empowerment steering committee, today reaffirmed his earlier statement that the committee would meet its end of the month deadline. He says the document will be submitted to communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri next week.

"Next week the charter will be ready for submission to the minister of communications for consideration and publication as a sector Code of Good Practice."

Mjwara says although all the concerns and recommendations made by various sub-sectors are being considered, "there is no way everyone will be satisfied with what is contained in the document" and there will be further changes made to the charter.

"The charter is an ongoing process," says Mjwara. "We are in the process of producing a living document; that is why we have set the 2010 major review date, when we will look at making considerable changes to the charter."