The information and communications technology (ICT) charter’s working group chairperson, advocate Dali Mpofu, on Wednesday dismissed rumours that the camp is in crisis, instead arguing that nothing has changed.
“There is no crisis. We are not restarting the whole process of drawing up the charter again; that is ridiculous,” he said in response to a media report that claimed a new steering committee is set to redraft the empowerment charter.
“The fact that there are outstanding issues, especially those around the SMMEs [small, medium and micro enterprises], does not mean we have a crisis. We need to be mindful of small companies as well, and in fact the charter must make sense to all; that’s not too much of an issue — we are dealing with it,” Mpofu said.
He said the camp is not polarised, but as seen in other negotiated settlements, there is usually more than one position. Having two differing positions, or more, should not be interpreted as dissatisfaction or polarisation.
Mpofu argued that it is important rather to delay the process while pondering all positions and addressing all issues than doing a rushed job.
“This is what some people wanted [a rushed job] but we are dealing with it; I think people should be more patient,” he said.
The ICT charter was originally set for finalisation on June 25 last year but this deadline was missed. It was supposed to come into operation on March 1 2005 — this deadline was also missed, in part due to further consultative processes, although Mpofu had last year insisted that would not be the case.
It still remains unclear when the ICT Black Economic Empowerment Council will be appointed and what its composition will be. What also remains to be decided is when the charter will finally come into being.
In July, the Deputy Director General of Trade and Industry, Lionel October, said that the Department of Trade and Industry would complete five charters, including the ICT charter, by the end of 2004.
“All of them have made significant progress; there are just a few outstanding issues to accommodate the multinationals,” October said at the time.
In August, the working group announced that it had signed an agreement with the American Chamber of Commerce to resolve the thorny issue of black ownership (or lack thereof) in multinational companies operating in South Africa. — I-Net Bridge