The ICT Charter Working Group Tuesday released the final draft of the ICT BEE Charter.

According to Working Group chairman, Dali Mpofu, the use of the word final symbolizes the fact that the charter is moving to the next stage of the process -- the interim or pre-adoption phase. Mpofu says that while this is the final draft, the document is by no means the charter itself.

The next phase -- known as the interim, or pre-adoption phase -- will see any outstanding issues being resolved in anticipation of the March 1 deadline, and the charter itself being finalized.

Mpofu said that he hoped that some of those issues would be resolved in the workshop held Tuesday at Nedlac, which was attended by all industry stakeholders.

Tuesday?s workshop, he says, was convened to launch the next phase of the charter with all constituents. It was agreed at the workshop that this final draft of the charter will be used as the baseline document going forward.

Issues outlined by Mpofu at Tuesday?s press conference include: clarification and expansion on the agreement reached with the multinationals around equity sales; governance issues around the formation, running, funding and rules governing the BEE Council; the issue of aligning the charter with regulations affecting industry players, for example, the BEE requirements imposed by Icasa in its licensing regimes need to be aligned with the charter and vice versa.

Changes to the draft since version four, Mpofu says, include the acceptance of submissions around the short-term and long-term targets.

Due to the fact that, in terms of the Companies Act, 35 percent is the threshold for making an offer to minorities, the long-term target is now 30 percent.

Submissions around whether ownership by disabled persons should count as bonus points or be compulsory, and the inclusion of youth at certain levels, have been taken into account and resolution reached, he adds.

The format of the document itself has also changed, with parts A and C containing what Mpofu calls the "hardcore" items, and part B covering the history and discussions, or "chatty bits".

The final version is currently available on http://www.ictcharter.org.za. The Working Group says it will be taking comments and submissions on this final version.