Charter group awaits DTI code

By Itumeleng Mogaki, ITWeb junior journalist

Johannesburg, 05 Jul 2005

The ICT empowerment charter working group is awaiting this week`s release of the Department of Trade and Industry`s (DTI`s) Code of Good Practice before finalising the draft charter.

Earlier this year, a large proportion of the ICT industry called for the charter to be more closely aligned with the DTI`s code, to assist those industries regulated by both sets of guidelines.

"We are waiting for the code to be published at the end of the week by the DTI," says empowerment charter steering committee chairman Joe Mjwara.

Once the DTI code has been released, a few amendments may be made to the ICT charter.

"We will release a statement by the end the week to inform the public of consequential amendments to the charter so as to ensure alignment and harmonisation," says Mjwara.

He says the code was initially to have been published in May but was delayed due to a number of reasons.

"The DTI is responsible for the publication, and one of the reasons the code was delayed is because a lot of input was received from various stakeholders with regards to the draft code."

The committee said earlier that the charter was expected to be in operation by the second half of 2005. However, speaking to ITWeb this morning, Mjwara could not say when exactly the charter would come into effect.

However, he notes: "The charter document was handed to the Cabinet via communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri and has been approved as a document that will guide the BEE activities in the industry."