The Black IT Forum (BITF) believes systems integrator Dimension Data deliberately excluded its former chairman Andile Ngcaba from its long-term incentive scheme because he did not have the political influence needed by most multinational companies to get government contracts.
Ngcaba is taking his former paymaster to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) over alleged "discrimination and unfair remuneration practices".
BITF is an association of black individuals formed specifically to address the poor representation of blacks in the ICT industry as both professionals and business operators.
According to Business Day, Ngcaba said he learnt in May 2016 that executive directors, including his juniors, were benefiting from a long-term incentive scheme, from which he was excluded.
It adds that Ngcaba argues that being excluded from the scheme amounts to institutional racism. The report adds that Ngcaba says he tried to solve the impasse internally but had to head for arbitration at the CCMA when this failed.
He also planned to reach out to Dimension Data's parent NTT in Japan in a bid to have the case resolved.
Dimension Data says: "The purpose of the group's long-term incentives is to provide awards to the executive directors and to other key talent within the group that recognises their continued contribution to the group."
In October 2010, Japan-based Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, one of the largest global telecommunications service providers, acquired 100% of Dimension Data for £2.1 billion, or R24 billion, making Dimension Data a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NTT Group.
Following the acquisition, Dimension Data delisted from the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.
Ngcaba claims he was in the dark about the scheme until last year. However, he says the scheme benefitted his white colleagues, including his juniors.
In July, Ngcaba's Convergence Partners exited its investment in Dimension Data Middle East and Africa. Ngcaba then stepped down as chairman.
Convergence Partners first invested in Dimension Data in 2004 as part of the original DiData B-BBEE transaction and remained invested until June 2017.
BITF treasurer-general Morena Ntsika told ITWeb that Ngcaba should have been included in the incentive scheme. "One of the things that I noticed with these BEE transactions is that whenever the BEE partner is falling out of political favour, the multinational companies start frustrating their partner to an extent they have to decide whether to leave the company or stay. Dimension Data frustrated Andile for a long time.
"The main role of Andile at Dimension Data was to bring government business. Later on, they [Dimension Data] realised that maybe Andile did not have much political influence as they thought or as it was before," says Ntsika. "I am not saying Ngcaba was a front, but multinationals have a tendency using black executives as fronts to get lucrative government deals."
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