The long-awaited fourth draft of the ICT empowerment charter, which was supposed to be released yesterday, has been delayed slightly because the working group needs to add final touches to it, says Dali Mpofu, chairman of the ICT empowerment charter working group.
"We have not yet posted the fourth draft on the ICT charter Web site because the working group will meet this afternoon to discuss the final touches to be added on the charter," says Mpofu.
"A bit of editing" needs to be done before the public can access the fourth draft version, he says. "We will be able to post the fourth draft on the ICT charter Web site tomorrow."
The fourth draft already contains areas of agreement with the broader stakeholders outside of the industry. This draft also states adjustments to the targets released in May, following input from relevant players.
The fourth draft was to have been released in June but did not materialise, following a series of meetings between the charter working group and multinationals operating in SA, in a bid to reach agreement on critical issues such as equity ownership.
Another reason for the delay was the large number of submissions received from the industry in response to the third draft.
The government has engaged the working group on the contents of the draft charters and has established a joint working group that meets periodically to look into issues of government interest.
The final document is scheduled for completion before the end of the year, after which an ICT BEE council will be appointed to take over the administration of the charter. The charter is expected to be operational by March next year.
Share