What happened to transformation?

This week's announcement that GijimaAst CEO John Miller would retire from the top spot had me really excited. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like Miller - in fact he is rather pleasant on the whole - it is just that we are finally seeing the entry of new blood into IT company top spots.

Or are we?

You see the problem with this picture is that not much seems to be changing. Like the changing of the guards outside Buckingham Palace, the replacements for these posts are difficult to distinguish from their predecessors.

To this day I have my doubts about Queen Elizabeth's household cavalry. No matter how much you wish to avoid tourist attractions when travelling abroad, the changing of the guards is not one you should forgo. And this is for one simple reason: if you miss the ceremony it is virtually impossible to ascertain that the new guard is not in fact the same guy you saw a few hours before.

The same seems to be apparent for our industry.

I'm crossing my fingers that some youngish black entrepreneur will take the industry by storm.

Kimberley Guest, senior journalist

In the last year or so, we have seen the leaders of some of our biggest ICT companies announce their imminent departure. Business Connexion CEO Peter Watt last year said he would retire as soon as the Telkom deal was sorted out. Datacentrix co-founder and executive director Klaas Lammers announced his retirement in November last year. And now we have the announcement regarding Miller's departure at the end of June.

For those leaving, it must be a foreign world to that which they entered in their youth. As for those entering, are they equipped to deal with the transformation that must still take place?

To my mind, we seem to be fairly good at putting our previously-disadvantaged communities on our boards and in our shareholding register. We are even making strides in reaching the 50% black employment equity mark.

But what about those positions that require risk and responsibility? Where are our black CEOs?

We quite obviously feel confident enough to put our darker compatriots at the head of the boardroom table - think Datacentrix's Gary Morolo, Dimension Data's Andile Ngcaba and GijimaAst's Robert Gumede. Nevertheless, when it comes to CEO-type positions, we just can't seem to find the "right" person who also happens to be black.

Is this the last bastion of the old guard - let's get empowered, but not so much that we lose "sensible" control? Or is it that our senior black people have far more opportunity to fatten their bank accounts by buying into companies, sitting on boards and "networking" with key comrades?

Personally, I can't wait for that new guard that whispers "boo" in the ear of some silly tourist trying to get a reaction. Similarly, I'm crossing my fingers that some youngish black entrepreneur will take the industry by storm through shrugging off old mantles, creating new markets and opportunities, and proving to all that talent is not determined by colour of skin or the number of companies in which shares are held.

Viva change!