The local ICT industry has seen a host of large empowerment deals from the likes of Sun Microsystems, Dimension Data, MultiChoice and Sahara. On the face of it, therefore, it seemed strange to catch up with one of the IT Personality of the Year finalists, Hamilton Ratshefola of Cornastone Technology, to discuss where BEE is going wrong and how the situation can be rectified.

Ratshefola has very strong feelings on the issue, and isn't shy about it. “Capital can come and go, but you cannot take skills away from a person,” he says, explaining that the current BEE situation involves money flowing from a select few whites to a select few blacks.