The proposed ICT charter is turning out to be a huge waste of time and resources and, even if it does eventually see the light of day, will not do one iota of good.
The charter has been banging around for more than seven years and has gone through rewrite after rewrite. It has been the subject of much contention, and disputes have raged on about its contents, as committee members have not always seen eye-to-eye.
The document - meant to rule how companies in the sector implement empowerment - dates back to at least 2003. Back then, a draft document was drawn up for discussion - and was never wrapped up to the satisfaction of all involved to become a final charter.
Delay after delay dogged the process. In May 2005, a “final” document was released, but this process was interrupted by the Department of Trade and Industry's introduction of BEE codes in February 2007, with which the charter needed to be aligned.
Then the Electronic Industry Federation refused to sign off on the document, arguing that its targets were not realistic. That debate dragged on for some time.
On again, off again
Now it looks like the charter may actually finally see the light of day. But even though members of the steering committee have been engaging with DTI to have the latest version - a 60-page document - gazetted, it really does not look like this will happen by March.
March is the department's cut-off date for getting charters gazetted, and the message is clear: if DTI doesn't think industry players all agree on the contents, and the document is not in line with the relevant legislation, there won't be a charter after the cut-off date.
The charter's aims were laudable 10 years ago, but the endless delays have outdated whatever aim it wanted to have.
Nicola Mawson, senior journalist, ITWeb
The trick is making everybody happy, but the committee comprises many industry representatives, including bodies such as the Black IT Forum, the SA Communications Forum, the Computer Society of SA, the Electronic Industries Federation, Information Industry SA (IISA), Information Technology Association and the South African Chamber of Business.
And it doesn't look like everyone has been involved in the latest version - whatever number it may be. A lack of involvement by just one party is enough to send the whole thing back to the drawing board - yet again, making it increasingly unlikely that the sector-specific charter will ever come into play.
Pointless
Even assuming all the little nitty-gritty details - like consensus - get sorted out once and for all, the charter is not likely to have a meaningful impact.
Companies in the sector, such as Business Connexion, MTN, Vodacom and several others, have been moving ahead and signing up deals. Transformation plans are moving ahead as companies aim for higher levels of empowerment in accordance with the codes, without waiting for the charter to be signed.
Sure, smaller companies have held off on empowerment pending an actual charter, but there is nothing stopping the industry from just sticking to the codes.
Private sector companies want to do business with empowered companies; they want to be able to score points for things like buying from empowered companies. Private companies also need to be empowered to benefit from government contracts and spectrum licences.
The sector is driving its own transformation, and is changing while the charter languishes in a pile under someone's coffee cup somewhere. By the time the charter comes out, any requirements it has will be moot, because they will have already been implemented by the sector.
In addition, the charter's aims were laudable 10 years ago, but the endless delays have outdated whatever aim it wanted to have.
Charters have not been successful in any event; other sectors such as mining and tourism that have charters have not seen any trickle-down benefit to small black companies. Moreover, government has also recently indicated that it wants to revisit empowerment, because it's not working.
With mounting evidence that the charter is part of a bygone era and should have been gazetted years ago to make a difference, the question must be asked why it wasn't scrapped years ago. Instead, there is now a final push to get it gazetted, a case perhaps of flogging a dead horse.
The pity is that all the time wasted on umpteen drafts and final versions - and still being wasted in the final push - could have gone into other areas that would have had a much more meaningful effect on transformation.
Instead of arguing point after point, committee members could have been out there holding workshops, transferring skills and helping grow a talent pool for SA's ICT sector, a pool that is so desperately needed and would mean more for empowerment than the tick boxes the charter will contain.
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