Lack of communication between the leaders and members of the Black IT Forum (BITF) and recent negative media reports have led to the crisis facing the organisation, says BITF member Tebogo Khaas.
Khaas addressed the media in Parktown yesterday, and said the organisation, which represents black people in the IT sector, is in danger of collapsing unless changes are made.
He said some members would like to see clarity on the BITF`s direction and vision, as well as necessary interventions. He blamed the crisis on the organisation`s leadership, which 12 months ago promised a transparent and accountable stewardship.
Khaas said about 20 members of the BITF were made aware of yesterday`s press briefing and executive committee members were also notified, but were not invited.
Unachieved goals
The organisation was formed 10 years ago to involve black industry players in transformation and policy-making within the ICT sector.
"At its peak, the BITF had about 3 000 members. Today they can hardly claim to have a paid-up membership in excess of 50," said Khaas.
Nhlanhla Goba, another long-standing BITF member and owner of skills development agency Goba and Associates, also attended the briefing. Goba stated that the organisation had not achieved its goal of bringing black people into the industry. He added that a few have assumed leadership roles, but there is still more to be done regarding the involvement of women and youth in the sector.
Entrenched leadership
At the briefing, Khaas alleged the current BITF leadership had entrenched itself and that the organisation is now technically insolvent. He claimed the term of office of Neville Naidoo, national BITF chairman, had expired although Naidoo still remains in the position.
Mthunzi Mdwaba, BITF communications official of the national executive committee and BITF Gauteng chairman, confirmed Naidoo`s term had expired.
"The reason he is still the chairperson is because we have not been able to reach other regions to conduct elections. The BITF leaders have already had elections in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal where Mdu Mkhonza and I were elected chairpersons respectively," said Mdwaba.
Discussions planned
Mdwaba added that there would be a forum meeting sponsored by Microsoft on 12 May for networking and reporting purposes, followed by a bosberaad, at which the new national executive would be constituted by the regions that had already held their elections.
He appealed to all members to attend, as the organisation could not reach everyone due to the theft of BITF`s membership database in November 2005.
"Prior to the robbery, we had around 3 000 names on our database, but only had around 900 who were active members of good standing; all the others failed to stay in touch with the office," said Mdwaba.
Khaas called on BITF members to attend an extraordinary annual general meeting at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 6 May, saying they would get the opportunity to seek answers to their questions.
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