PBICT Calls for Accountability Following Reports on Dimension Data BEE Deal

PBICT CONDEMNS ALLEGED B-BBEE FRONTING AT DIMENSION DATA AND CALLS FOR DECISIVE ACTION AGAINST THE ABUSE OF BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

Progressive Blacks in ICT (PBICT) expresses its outrage and deep concern over the revelations surrounding the alleged manipulation of Black Broad-Based Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) legislation in the R1.3 billion Dimension Data transaction involving the sale of The Campus in Bryanston, Johannesburg.

The reported admission by former Dimension Data Chief Executive Officer, Jason Goodall, concerning his involvement in the transaction raises serious questions about the integrity of corporate empowerment transactions and the extent to which transformation policies continue to be exploited for private financial gain.

These developments are particularly disturbing in an ICT sector where black-owned enterprises continue to confront structural barriers to market entry, limited access to capital, exclusion from major procurement opportunities and the concentration of economic ownership in the hands of established corporations.

For PBICT, this matter represents more than allegations of corporate misconduct. It exposes the vulnerability of South Africa's economic transformation framework to sophisticated arrangements that may create the appearance of black ownership while preserving economic benefits for individuals who were never the intended beneficiaries of empowerment legislation.

Black Economic Empowerment was established to dismantle historical economic exclusion, not to become an instrument through which powerful corporate executives enrich themselves under the disguise of transformation.

It is unacceptable that genuine black ICT entrepreneurs must continue fighting for access to opportunities while allegations emerge that empowerment mechanisms have been manipulated by those already occupying positions of economic privilege.

PBICT maintains that fronting, wherever established, constitutes a direct assault on the objectives of economic transformation. Such practices undermine legitimate black businesses, distort transformation outcomes and erode confidence in the very legislative instruments intended to advance economic inclusion.

While PBICT recognises that the allegations against other implicated individuals remain disputed and subject to judicial processes, the seriousness of the reported disclosures demands urgent attention from the relevant authorities.

PBICT therefore calls for:

1.    An urgent investigation by the B-BBEE Commission into the transaction, including the identification of the ultimate beneficial owners and all individuals or entities that may have benefited from the arrangement.

2.    The involvement of the Hawks and the National Prosecuting Authority, where evidence establishes grounds for criminal investigation and prosecution, to ensure that those found responsible for fraudulent empowerment transactions are held accountable.

3.    A comprehensive review of B-BBEE compliance within the ICT sector, particularly large corporate transactions in which black ownership credentials may not reflect genuine economic participation, management control or beneficial ownership.

4.    Stronger enforcement of the ICT Sector Code, including greater transparency regarding ownership structures and the economic beneficiaries of empowerment transactions.

5.    Accountability for professional advisers, financial institutions and corporate intermediaries found to have knowingly facilitated arrangements intended to circumvent the objectives of B-BBEE legislation.

PBICT further calls upon the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies to strengthen oversight mechanisms and ensure that transformation in the ICT sector produces measurable economic benefits for historically disadvantaged South Africans.

The organisation has consistently maintained that the transformation of the ICT sector cannot be measured merely through compliance certificates and corporate scorecards. Genuine transformation must translate into black ownership of telecommunications infrastructure, participation in major technology contracts, control of productive assets, intellectual property development and sustainable black industrialisation.

The Dimension Data matter must therefore prompt a broader national conversation about the effectiveness of B-BBEE enforcement and the continued concentration of economic power within South Africa's ICT industry.

We cannot build an inclusive digital economy while allowing the instruments of transformation to become mechanisms for preserving historical economic privilege.

PBICT reiterates that economic transformation is neither an act of corporate generosity nor a discretionary compliance exercise. It is a constitutional and developmental imperative necessary to address the structural inequalities that continue to characterise the South African economy.

The organisation stands with the Black Business Council and other progressive business formations in demanding that the relevant authorities investigate these allegations thoroughly and ensure that any wrongdoing established is met with the full consequences prescribed by law.

Black people cannot remain spectators in an economy that is supposedly being transformed in their name.

PBICT will continue to champion genuine black ownership, meaningful economic participation and the dismantling of structural barriers that prevent black ICT enterprises from competing fairly in the mainstream economy.

ENDS

ISSUED BY:

Progressive Blacks in ICT (PBICT)

Office of the Secretary General

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

Luvo Grey

Secretary General : 0766180755:  luvog@pbict.org