ICT charter 'finalised`

By Itumeleng Mogaki, ITWeb junior journalist

Johannesburg, 04 May 2005

ICT empowerment charter steering committee chairman Joe Mjwara has confirmed that the committee will meet the ministry of communications today, to set a time for submitting the document to communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri.

"We have finalised the charter with industry stakeholders, and will meet with the ministry of communications office to determine the venue as well as the availability of the minister," he says.

While the document has now been declared finalised, Mjwara said earlier that it would be a "living document" that could be changed slightly. With this in mind, the committee is addressing some of the issues that were raised earlier by various stakeholders.

"We met with the Electronics Industry Federation (EIF) with regards to clarifying a number of concerns raised earlier, and so far we`ve had positive consultation in terms of what needs to be done," says Mjwara.

Various industry stakeholders recently raised concerns over the complexity of being regulated by two sets of guidelines: the ICT charter and the Department of Trade and Industry`s (DTI`s) Code of Good Practice.

The EIF and multinationals represented by the American Chamber of Commerce also called for the industry`s charter to be brought closer to the DTI`s code.

Mjwara says the committee remains positive that the minister will be satisfied with the charter document, and that the charter will be made available for a final round of consultation before it is recognised as the sector`s Code of Good Practice.

The steering committee previously stated that the charter is expected to be in operation by the second half of 2005.