Torque-IT chairman, Mthunzi Mdwaba, issued a challenge to the industry to weed out companies that are anti-transformation at the CSSA President"s Awards Banquet, held last week in Sandton, South Africa.

Speaking after being announced as the IT Personality of the Year, Mdwaba said that certain companies have been engaging in talks with the Charter Working Group on the multinational equity issue, yet, simultaneously, lobbying government and the President behind the working group"s back, in a bid to get their own way.

Mdwaba said that he has received letters from several of these companies, addressed to him in his capacity as President of the ITA, effectively threatening to withdraw their support for the ITA unless they get their own way with regards to the charter.

Mdwaba noted that the members of the Working Group had been voicing their opinions through Dali Mpofu, in his capacity as chairman, but that enough is now enough, and it is time for those members to speak out individually. He added that he would be calling on the Black IT Forum (BITF) to make use of its position as the only industry association with a seat on the Gitoc, to drive transformation in the industry.

He also urged CIOs to make use of their influence in the procurement arena, and to look very carefully at where they are awarding tenders.

The issue around the selling of equity by multinationals has been much debated, both by the Working Group and the multinationals, as represented by the American Chamber of Commerce. The fourth and fifth drafts of the ICT Charter both make provision for multinationals that are unable to sell equity to have their situations evaluated by the BEE Council on a case by case basis. Where the council finds that selling equity would be detrimental to a company"s business, provision has been made for that company to be evaluated on a total BEE score of 80, instead of 100.

Mdwaba"s comments on the actions of such companies suggest that said companies are not trying to find a reasonable solution at all, contrary to the public statements of support for the transformation process that many of these companies have made.

The fifth charter draft should have been made public by the time that this story hits the streets, whereafter it will be presented to Cabinet. If the tone of Mdwaba"s speech is anything to go on, the Working Group will no longer allow any further delay to the process, and this draft will go to government with all due haste.