The ICT sector has not been spared the handshakes greased with gravy and copious spending on BEE deals. This rush for riches is reminiscent of the late-1800 gold boom - defined by WordNet Search as a "sudden happening that brought good fortune". In the case of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE), this good fortune is only for the select few.
I`m not the originator of these thoughts, and I know this chorus of complaints about the same five or six individuals in BEE deals has been sung before. I cannot, however, end this dreary song without adding a verse - seeing as, in the ICT industry, no one has come right out and said it.
It is always the same people receiving this "good fortune", striking it rich in BEE deals. Even in a niche sector like ICT, I cannot see real business value being added to companies. It appears to be a case of extending the connection network.
I had the misfortune of attending several lavish BEE deal signings. I have tried to mine-out even a single positive statement that would explain why I should not think of such deals as get-rich-quick schemes and fronting. All I heard was long, laborious, incoherent speeches on the "value proposition" that various BEE partners brought to the table.
I have tried to mine-out even a single positive statement that would explain why I should not think of BEE deals as get-rich-quick schemes and fronting.
Bandile Sikwane, Journalist, ITWeb
As I listened, I could almost swear one of the speakers looked directly at me and said: "If you know the right people and pretend to know what the right people are saying, you can negate the actual knowledge needed to be in ICT and soon, you too will be making shady deals."
I agree that wealth must be dispersed in order to readdress past injustices. I also agree that people of colour need to be given opportunities to own equity in large corporations. But somewhere along the line, the true point of BEE has been lost. All I see - and more so in the ICT sector - is the same so-called heavyweights, commonly known as "fat cats", buying chunks in ICT companies to enrich their portfolios while claiming to add "real" value.
Surely true BBBEE should be about the empowerment of people, not about giving a company an opportunity to name drop so as to gain a new market, while pretending to empower the disempowered?
The ICT sector has been plagued by skill shortages - a serious issue that needs serious attention. There are companies that are investing in training BEE skills only inevitably to lose these to skill scavengers with deeper pockets, in most cases the newly-created BEE entities.
We have all heard of BBBEE (who thinks up these silly acronyms?), the ever-elusive Codes of Good Practice and the ICT charter. The question, then, is: when is government going to control the BEE monster in ICT and address skills shortages?
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