Johannesburg, 02 Jul 2012
The long-awaited ICT Charter, which was finally gazetted last month, will not affect Microsoft's equity equivalency programme.
Vis Naidoo, SA's citizen lead, explains that trade and industry minister Rob Davies had already approved Microsoft's deal and the charter's targets will only apply to new equity equivalency programmes.
The charter, which was nine years in the making, requires that unlisted companies in the ICT sector be 30% empowered, and listed entities sell 25.1%, with equity deals capped at R7.5 billion. The generic codes require firms to sell a 25.1% stake.
The document was gazetted on 6 June and came into immediate effect.
In April 2010, Microsoft said it would invest R475 million in a handful of small empowerment companies in the sector in a bid to earn empowerment points. Last March, it announced its first four partner companies and added a further two entities last November.
Work on the charter started in 2003, which was followed by the launch, two years later, of the first “final” version. Then the Department of Trade and Industry gazetted the generic codes in February 2007, which meant the ICT document had to be aligned with the codes, causing yet another delay.
Naidoo adds that the charter differs from the generic codes as it gives prominence to skills development and socio-economic investments and changes some of the targets to be achieved.
“Microsoft will ensure that we work within the framework of the ICT charter to support broader social and economic development in SA.”
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