ICT charter in limbo

By Itumeleng Mogaki, ITWeb junior journalist

Johannesburg, 25 Oct 2005

Fresh doubts have arisen over the progress of an empowerment charter for the ICT industry, since the empowerment charter steering committee appears to have no leader.

The charter, which has been three years in the making, has suffered a series of setbacks. It was hoped the charter would be operational by mid-2005, but key players indicate the final product is still some way off.

Among the latest setbacks are delays in completing the Department of Trade and Industry`s (DTI`s) Code of Good Practice, which will impact on the final charter document, and the fact that the charter steering committee currently has no leader.

In addition, there have been complaints that the charter, along with the rest of SA`s empowerment charters, has not yet been gazetted and still has to be approved by the government.

Missing driver

Mthunzi Mdwaba, Torque-IT executive chairman and steering committee member, says the working group, which originally drove the charter process, has not dissolved and that Dali Mpofu, now South African Broadcasting Corporation chief executive, is still chairman.

However, he says the charter steering committee, which was formed late last year to replace the working group, "might not have a chairman".

"Alternatively we have not been told who will replace Mjwara [Joe Mjwara, former ICT charter steering committee chairman], as the steering committee is a body constituted of government, community, labour and all the industry sub-sectors."

Andile Tlhoaele, president of the Communications Cabling Association of Southern Africa and member of the steering committee, says the Department of Communications is stalling the process by not appointing a councillor for the steering committee.

"Although there`s a structure in the charter document to appoint a councillor, that has not yet happened and without a councillor, the steering committee is unable to appoint a principal officer," he says.

Tlhoaele explains that part of the principal officer's duties would be to deal with outstanding issues and keep the industry informed of the latest developments. "I for one have an industry to account to and thus far no one knows what is going on."

Gazetted or not?

There has also been concern from some quarters that the charter has not been registered by the government.

Roger Dawes, Electronics Industry Federation executive director and ICT charter steering committee member, says it appears Cabinet has not yet gazetted nor approved the ICT charter, along with the rest of the charters.

"At a meeting organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Pholo Radebe of the DTI said the charters have not yet been gazetted and nothing official has come out them," says Dawes.

He says it appears the charter document has been shelved. "The steering committee and the working group have not yet been made aware of this. The secretariat is busy formulating a response, which we will take up with the DTI."

However, Mjwara reiterates that he and his committee presented the draft to communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in May, and says the draft charter was then debated and approved by Cabinet.

He maintains that the only thing holding back the ICT empowerment charter now is the finalising of the DTI`s Codes of Good Practice.

Mdwaba agrees that the charter was taken through the portfolio committee and referred to Cabinet, which in principle approved it, subject to public comment.

"We were made to believe, and this was on 25 June 2005, that the charter would be circulated for a period of no less than 60 days. After this, it would then have been put through the process of being matched to the codes and passed as a code of good practice in the meantime," he says.

"We strongly believe that the charter qualifies as such as per the BEE Act, [and should be approved] as quickly as possible - transformation delayed is transformation denied."

"There`s no way the charter can be approved by Cabinet," says Luanne Grant, American Chamber of Commerce executive director and member of the working group. "It first has to be brought in line with the DTI`s codes.

"However, I can confirm that the charter was presented to the communications minister. As we speak, no one knows when the charter is expected to be ready," says Grant.