The ICT charter working group will meet on 31 January to discuss the alignment of the ICT charter to the provisions of the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI's) BEE Codes of Good Practice, says the Department of Communications.
The alignment process will look into provisions of the BEE codes and ensure the ICT charter conforms to them, says communications department spokesman Albi Modise.
The alignment process, which also includes ensuring the language used in the ICT charter conforms to that used in the BEE codes, will be competed by the end of the first quarter of 2007, Modise says.
'Toothless' codes
In December, Cabinet approved phase two of the DTI's BEE codes, which deals with the empowerment scorecard.
The scorecard addresses issues such as employment equity, skills development, preferential procurement, enterprise development, socio-economic development, qualifying small enterprises, as well as the treatment of multinationals.
Phase one of the BEE codes, which deals with the conceptual framework, the verification agencies, sector transformation charters, ownership, and the recognition of the sale of assets and management, was completed in October 2005.
However, soon after the BEE codes were released to the public, Andile Tlhoaele, executive director of Coral-I Solutions and a member of the ICT charter steering committee, stated that they were toothless.
He argued that, while government has clarified some issues, such as ownership equity equivalents, there is a lack of clarity between the BEE codes and the Preferential Procurement Framework Act.
Vendors wishing to tender for government business also had to comply with the Preferential Procurement Framework Act, as this is a National Treasury requirement, he said.
However, the Preferential Procurement Framework Act's definitions of historically-disadvantaged individuals clash with the codes' definitions, he added.
The DTI said it would gazette the final BEE Codes of Good Practice, which were released to the public in December, early this year.
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