Nasdaq-listed multinational technology group Novell fully backs the black economic empowerment (BEE) charter for the sector and is looking forward to concluding a BEE deal soon, Novell SA managing director Stafford Masie said on Thursday.
“We fully support the charter. We have no problem with the processes and are happy with the progress that has been achieved thus far and we’ll work towards [empowerment] equity and put the right structures in place,” Masie said.
“We will do BEE because it’s the right thing for the country and will not do anything that is in conflict with the charter.”
Masie hailed other information and communications technology firms that are in agreement with what the empowerment charter seeks to achieve. He said what was also encouraging was that every company in the sector was afforded an opportunity to express its views independently.
Novell SA is expected to announce a BEE deal before the charter, which is currently in its final stages, comes into effect on March 1, 2005.
The ICT charter’s final document that was due for submission to Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri on September 30 will now be submitted towards the end of October. The official gala launch originally scheduled for October is likely to be postponed until November.
Novell is a provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management, web application development and cross-platform networking services. The group is also active in the open source community. – I-Net Bridge