Altech Group

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE ALTECH GROUP
2008 • issue two
ALTECH and NEotel
sign a major deal
- pg 13
win a brand new
HTC TOUCH DIAMOND CELLPHONE
- pg 21
WE TALK TO
DR PENUELL MADUNA
- pg 36
Altech netstar assists
THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME
- pg 19
2008 • issue two
Altech has just revamped its
website with a new look and feel,
as well as much more content.
Please visit www.altech.co.za and
take a look for yourself.
The Sameer Group pays Altech a visit: from left is Sameer Merali, Naushad Merali,
Craig Venter (Altech CEO) and Andy Baker (Altech COO) - pg 32
Altech CEO talks:
4 The
A message from Craig Venter
Telecommunications Update
6 The
with Graham Passmoor
Strategic Update with
7 The
Wessie van der Westhuizen
Talk with Steve Sidley
8 Tech
Digital Migration - A Primer
Hosts an evening with
10 Altron
Le Grande Cirque
11 Altech Stream’s WiMax Launch
Autopage Cellular takes
12 Altech
Vodacom’s Executives on an
unforgettable weekend
2
13 Altech and Neotel sign a major deal
14
Altech KDN launches the Digital
Villages Program
Altech scoops another coveted award
16 Altech Alcom Radio Distributors
hosts the 2008 Dealer Conference
17 Is your tracker an Altech Netstar?
Netstar supports the KZN
18 Altech
crime fighting initiative
19 The Altech Siyabonga Awards
20 Altech Talk Trivia
21
l
rd
CONTENTS
Performers from the world-renowned Le Grande
Cirque - pg 10
Altech Netstar air and ground recovery crews apprehend a suspect - pg 19
& About
22 Out
Altech Netstar’s “Eye in the Sky”
Kathy Moonsamy
YPC Executive Committee
23 The
meets with the Altech Academy
Altech Porsche Challenge
30 The
returns to Kyalami
Autopage Cellular hosts a
and Dreyer share the
24 Altech
31 Ramsey
broadband breakfast
spoils in the Altech Kawasaki
25
Altech Autopage Cellular
sponsors another soccer
tournament
26 Altech NamITech’s “Corn Card”
Arrow Altech Distribution to sell
green energy products
27
The Altron Awards 2008
28
Masters Cup
32 The Sameer Group visits Altech
house interview with Graham
33 InPassmoor
36 Altech talks to Dr Penuell Maduna
3
2008 • issue two
THE ALTECH CEO TALks
A MessAge frOM crAig Venter
My opening statement in our previous issue of
Altech Talk made mention of the fact that we had
just completed compiling the year-end results for the
Altech Group. However, due to us being in a closed
period at the time, I could not discuss our financial
results, for the year ended 29 February 2008, in detail
with you. So I would now like to take this opportunity
to do so now.
Our headline earnings per share improved by 23% to
551 cents, with revenue increasing by 22% to R 8.2
billion and operating profit up by 17% to R664 million.
Net asset value per share increased from 1863 cents to
2026 cents, with cash balances on hand of more than
R1.5 billion, reflecting the strength of Altech’s balance
sheet. Return on shareholders’ equity remained
strong, increasing from 22.7% to 25.4%. A dividend
of 288 cents per share was declared, representing an
increase of 20%.
Our core growth drivers during the period under
review included: leveraging local market positions,
growing annuity revenue, building an Internet Protocol
(IP) delivery system and products as a foundation for
expansion into Africa, and exploiting demand in India
for digital decoders.
Altech Autopage Cellular, the largest independent
cellular service provider in South Africa, increased its
number of new connections by over 14% in 2007, and
continued its steady growth to account for 59% of
Altech’s total revenue.
4
The Altech Netstar Fleet Management division
experienced a remarkable growth of 70% in the
commercial fleets and vehicles subscriber market due
to the introduction of new technology solutions. When
combined with the newly acquired ComTech business,
Altech Netstar Fleet Management has now emerged
as a significant player in this subscriber industry with
more than 20% of the overall market share.
In the West African market, the growth of Altech
NamITech in Nigeria has proceeded at an astounding
pace over this past financial year. From starting out as
a new entrant only three years ago, the company has
become Africa’s leading provider of pre-paid vouchers.
Sales of pre-paid vouchers in Nigeria have grown from
less than 10 million per month in 2006 to over 100
million per month by the end of 2007.
However, I believe our Group’s crowning achievement
for 2007, in terms of Altech’s strategy to move up
the telecoms value chain and expand our geographic
presence in Africa, is the recent acquisition of controlling
interests in certain companies within Kenya’s Sameer
ICT group (Sameer) for a consideration of approximately
R600 million, financed entirely from the Group’s cash
resources. This acquisition which positions Altech as
the largest data operator in Central and East Africa,
sees Altech acquire 51% controlling interests in Kenya
Data Networks (KDN), Swift Global and Infocom.The
business comes with a cutting-edge IP data network
infrastructure in the region including 2400km of fibre
optic cable, as well as operating licenses for Kenya,
Tanzania and Uganda.
Altech has spent a number of years conducting
extensive market and technology research into
broadband delivery systems, and has expanded its
businesses in closely related areas like digital Tetra
wireless networks at Altech Alcom Matomo, digital
TV at Altech UEC, its extensive wireless network
technology for vehicle tracking at Altech Netstar and
voice and data network service provision at Altech
Autopage Cellular. All of this, now combined with
our now vastly expanded data footprint in Central and
East Africa, leaves us exceptionally well positioned to
ride the next technology wave which I believe is going
to be the convergence of voice, video and data.
More recently, we have had some great news from
the Investment Analysts Society of Southern Africa,
when they awarded Altech their accolade for “Best
Reporting and Communications Company” in the
industrial sector. We have also just demonstrated our
WiMax test license findings to ICASA, which were
extremely successful and these results reinforce our
commitment and ability for building a commercial
national WiMax network. Other good news for one
of our subsidiaries, Altech UEC, is the forthcoming
Digital Migration Program for television in our
country. For all TV’s currently receiving the analogue
signal, a specific Set Top Box (STB) will be required for
them to receive the new digital signal. With about 7
million televisions in the country that will ultimately
need this product to continue displaying broadcast
pictures, we are left in a great position to capitalise on
this requirement as Altech UEC is currently the only
local manufacturer of STB’s.
Another piece of news that needs my personal
mention here is the retirement of Altech’s Group
Executive for Wireless, Graham Passmoor. Graham
has been with Altech for almost 20 years now, and
during his tenure he has shown the Group some
remarkable results and growth from the subsidiaries
he oversees. Altech Autopage Cellular is now
the nation’s leading independent service provider,
Altech Netstar the country’s biggest vehicle recovery
business and Altech Alcom Matomo and Altech Radio
Distributors have become trailblazers in the realm
of digital TETRA radio technology, having set up
South Africa’s first digital radio network for the South
African Police Services in Gauteng. Graham has been
a valuable asset to Altech over the years, and we
shall miss his expertise and dedication.
To conclude this edition’s message, I would like to
make note of the current global economic downturn.
The spectre of inflation threatens to erode our
disposable income, driven primarily by the the oil
price skyrocketing and cost of food production
increasing. Repossessions of cars and houses are on
the rise across the world, with employers cutting back
their overheads by reducing their employee base.
Unfortunately, South Africa is no exception to this
adverse trend, with all of us feeling the pinch when
it comes to making ends meet. We are all employees
of Altech, and all of us are facing difficulties from this
economic slump, but I assure you that the Altech
Group will try to do everything within its capabilities
to protect its most valuable resource; its people.
Without you, Altech would not exist. So I urge you
all to stay focussed, to cut costs where you can in our
operations and to know that as a Group we will weather
the storm and emerge from this economic trough with
our continued and future success intact.
Craig Venter
CEO, Altech Group
5
2008 • issue two
Over the past 8 months, since the apparent beginning
of the economic downturn in January 2008, the
effects of domestic interest rates, volatile and
weakening exchange rates and fuel price increases
have had a dramatic impact on consumer spending.
It is inevitable that the results will begin to be felt
by Altech Companies to a greater or lesser degree.
After having weathered quite a few recessions in my
time, I have come to the conclusion that it is not
what is happening to your business as a result, but
what you do about it that counts in the end.
The first pressure point is sales: customers with less to
spend will cut back or even do without your product.
This is the time to step up the sales and marketing
effort! You can’t afford to give the shop away but
you can be smarter. Try to offer real value to your
customers, ask them… you will be surprised at how
helpful it can be! Next… leave no stone unturned
in the search for sales in a tough market… there are
always opportunities, the only question is whether
you or your opposition will make the sale!
In the same way, your business is a customer for
your suppliers. Asking your suppliers for value is
just as valid. If they really want your business, they
will also go the extra mile for a customer. The
alternative is to do some shopping around. We do
get set in our ways, and often fail to keep looking
for the best deal.
The second pressure point is expenses: if revenues
are under pressure, there are very few good
reasons why expenses should continue to grow.
Here again, being smarter is important, doing things
better with less is the general idea. Expense cuts
are best done like surgery, rather than simply cut
across the board.
If you do these things sensibly, the bottom-line should
look after itself. The last thing that will try to bite is
debtors. Watch them well, the most significant early
indicator of trouble is often signalled by an increase
in debtors which don’t pay on time (or at all).
As this will be my last contribution to Altech Talk, I
would like to take this opportunity to thank the Altech
team, especially my colleagues at Wireless Division for
teaching me these valuable lessons over the past 14
years. Best wishes for success in the future!
THE TELECOMMUNICATIONs UPDATE
bY Graham passmoor
aLteCh’s Group exeCutive wireLess division
6
the
strAtegic UPdAte
BY WEssIE VAN DER WEsTHUIZEN
ALTECH’s CHIEF sTRATEGIC OFFICER
Innovation
What is it? Why is it important?
Innovation is, by many, still viewed as the work of
specialists. These people are those creative types
that sit in the dark corners of R & D departments
or product development that have to come up with
that earth-shattering new idea once in awhile. Then
there is the specialist that manages, despite having
no formal assigned innovation role, to occasionally
succeed in pushing a truly radical idea through the
bureaucratic ranks of management. If the above fits
your organisation, be scared. You are treading water
and shall be overrun from behind.
Like quality (and if you have not grasped quality yet,
ouch!), innovation has to be a core competence that
cuts across all business activities. Innovation is NOT
only a dramatic once-off unique breakthrough. In
fact innovation can be fundamental, substantial or
incremental and cuts across all products, services
and business processes (see the figure alongside). It is
about the continuous improvement and re-engineering
of every facet of the business to ensure peer beating
results over the long term. The very principle of
this is that everybody in the organization needs to
be involved. This will position the business in such a
way that constant improvement (doing things better)
will ensure competitiveness and profitability, whilst
fundamental innovation (doing things differently) will
ensure its future.
Organisations that have truly embraced the fundamentals
of innovation as a core competency are rare, but
they include the exceptional players. Good examples
are General Electric (US$15bn annually from new
innovation), 3M (40% of turnover from products and
services, although they’re less than 3 years old) and
Toyota (funneling more than a million new ideas annually,
through a structured process).
We, as Altech, have a golden opportunity. If we
embrace and apply the course content available
through the Altech Academy; like Systems Thinking,
Systems Engineering, and Innovation Management,
this will facilitate the rapid enhancement of our
innovation capacity. In turn, this will allow us to yield
outstanding results which can be phenomenal.
7
2008 • issue two
TECH TALK
with Steve Sidley
Altech’s Chief Technology Officer
Most of you will probably have read or heard of South Africa’s long awaited digital migration, and our involvement in it.
What in the world is it, why do we need it, where is Altech positioned and when will we see it?
Million dollar questions indeed.
8
DIGITAL MIGRATION – A PRIMER
What is it?
How are we positioned?
Digital migration refers (as a sweeping generalization)
to the switch over from an analogue broadcasting
system to a digital broadcasting system. This has been
going on elsewhere for some years now, as country
after country moves to the newer technology. It was
(and is) driven by all sorts of standards and regulatory
bodies, but the primary driving force are the big
global heavyweights, including the United Nation’s
International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
A national digital migration program has a slew of
components that need to be attended to. Not all are
within our playing field. For instance, the ‘head-end’
(where the broadcast starts) needs a technology
overhaul, and we don’t play there.
In simple terms, what’s required is to replace the
existing infrastructure, which transmits analog
electromagnetic waves through the air, to a newer
infrastructure which encodes packets of 1’s and 0’s
onto the electromagnetic waves. These 1’s and 0’s
are a simulacrum of audio and video information, and
are returned to their ordinal analogue form before
hitting the screen of your TV set.
This new technology has a number of benefits – the
most important of which is that you can deliver more
video at lower cost, higher quality and with more
flexibility than the old method.
However, not all of digital video is beneficial. For
instance, in the analogue world the video image
degrades gracefully as you get further from the signal.
In the digital world it will degrade shockingly quickly
at a certain distance from the signal, and eventually
will cease to work at all.
Why do we need it?
You can pack more channels into the same piece of
spectrum. You can conspire to do fancy things with
compression (it is easy to compress 1’s and 0’s),
resulting in more data, which in turn can facilitate
wonderfully rich video like HDTV. You can embed
all sorts of non-video things in the data – time-based
controls, region-based controls, copy restrictions,
program guides, etc. You can do smart things like
removing colour or frames from the video as the
signal weakens. You can send video and audio to
computers for storage. The list goes on and on. It is
just, well, better.
The transmission infrastructure, which transmits signals
from tower to tower around South Africa, needs a
new bunch of hardware forklifted up the mast – that’s
Sentech’s playground.
Altech comes into its own at the Set Top Box (STB)
side of the equation, and without false immodesty,
we currently are the ONLY company in South Africa
that has any experience in designing, industrialising,
manufacturing and supporting STB’s, through our
subsidiary, Altech UEC. At the time of writing, we are
currently in deep engagement with the Department
of Communications, the Department of Trade and
Industry and the SABS (three of the major stakeholders)
to finalise technical specifications, business models,
after-sales support and the like.
When will we see it?
This is a tough question. The government originally
had a scheduled launch in November 2008, after
which they would simulcast until 2011. It was the
expectation that everyone would have upgraded to
STB’s or digital TV’s by then.
It seems like the government will be under pressure
to make that schedule. There is also a question as
to when the government thinks it will be finished
with the process. 2011 seems far too early, given
that many South Africans will not be able to afford
this upgrade, and government subsidies are still being
debated. We are pretty sure this will take longer
than anticipated – we are talking about 7 million TV’s
in SA after all, and you can imagine the uproar if a
large percentage of them became obsolete in 2011
because the owners couldn’t afford to upgrade.
Anyway, that is a fight for another day – we have
a significant oppertunity and we must go out and
secure it!
9
2008 • issue two
Altron Hosts an Evening with
Le Grand Cirque
On Sunday, 6 July 2008, Altron hosted a glittering
function at the Civic Theatre in central Johannesburg.
The entire venue was booked out and almost 1000
guests of Altron, Altech, Powertech and Bytes were
invited to enjoy an evening with the renowned Le
Grand Cirque.
The Le Grand Cirque is one the world’s premier
entertainment spectacles and boasts an array
of highly talented artists and performers which
have been procured from all over the globe.
The audience was treated to incredible acts that
included contortionists, acrobats and Chinese pole
climbing. The stage displays and the costumes were
mesmerizing, with the acts performed leaving those
who witnessed them speechless.
Glimpses of some of the acts performed on stage
10
Altron’s guests at the Civic Theatre for a show of a lifetime
aLteCh stream’s
wIMAx LAUNCH
Altech Stream presented their WiMax test results
to a number of Altech Executives and ICASA
delegates recently. The event was hosted by Altech
CEO, Craig Venter and was held at the company’s
head offices in Midrand on Monday, 19 May 2008.
It was the first time that a private firm had been
granted a test license and subsequently provided a
live demo to members of ICASA.
Altech Stream was granted a WiMax test license
by ICASA late last year. The company then eagerly
set about preparing how to best utilise this window
of opportunity from the country’s communications
regulator. They approached Samsung in South Korea
with regard to procuring the necessary hardware
which would allow a small-scale test network to
be deployed and tested. Samsung are world leaders
in manufacturing electronic and communication
technologies, and so it was ideal for Altech to have
partnered with them on this project.
The necessary equipment was sent to South
Africa, along with some highly skilled technical
personnel from Samsung, who were instrumental
in assisting Altech’s team in setting up the WiMax
network and then also aiding the numerous tests
on its capabilities. The Altech team spent several
months testing the network which they erected
from scratch. It included a total of 5 base stations
that were placed on high sites around the Midrand
area. The primary tests that were done included
mobile internet access, VoIP, video downloads and
streaming video, all of which were presented live
at the launch. These functions were performed
successfully, including when done so from moving
vehicles, which proved that the WiMax network
could provide seamless internet connectivity when
moving from one base station to another.
Steve Sidley, Altech’s Chief Technology Officer, addresses the delegates from
ICASA on the successful testing of Altech Stream’s WiMax capabilities
Ian Braid from Altech Stream, on the far right, explains how the WiMax
equipment works to the delegates from ICASA
Steven Sidley, Altech CTO and Ian Braid, Altech
Stream CTO, who managed the project, were both
extremely pleased with the results, and have verified
that the hype around Wimax is actually deserved.
The successful findings have reiterated Altech
Stream’s WiMax network capabilities, of which they
are currently deploying in the Rwandan capital,
Kigali. The company has now illustrated to ICASA
that they are able to provide this next generation
technology to South African consumers as well.
At the WiMax launch is Mark Preston from Altech Stream, with Wessie van
der Westhuizen, Altech’s Chief Strategic Officer
11
2008 • issue two
ALTECH AUTOPAGE CELLULAR TAkES
vODACOM’S ExECUTIvES ON AN
UnfOrgettAble WeeKend
Franschhoek came alive from the 8th to the 10th of
August 2008, when Altech Autopage Cellular whisked
away and hosted some of Vodacom’s top executives
and their partners at the luxurious Le Franschhoek
Hotel and Spa in the Western Cape.
Chaperoned by the Avis chauffeur drivers, the
vineyards of Lindhorst Wines welcomed guests
with a scrumptious lunch followed by a memorable
wine tasting and wine blending experience before
departing to the beautiful Le Franschhoek Hotel
and Spa. On their first evening, guests enjoyed
dinner and a combination of fine wine and food at
the Haute Cabriére Cellar Restaurant, high up on
the Franschhoek pass overlooking one of the most
beautiful valleys in the world.
Saturday was a fabulous day for relaxation, with a
round of golf at the award winning Jack Nicklaus
signature golf course for the men, and spa treatments
at the Camelot Spa for the women. They enjoyed
their Women’s Day in style and bliss, with pampering
fit for royalty. Fine dining followed at the Relais
Gourmand restaurant with an award winning wine
list and, of course, great company.
Stephen Blewett (MD of Altech Autopage Cellular) and Tracey Blewett, Pieter
Uys (Chief Operating Officer of Vodacom) and Irma Uys
Stephen Blewett (MD of Altech Autopage Cellular) and Pieter Uys (COO of
Vodacom) blending their winning wine at Lindhorst Wines
On their last day, it was with much difficulty that the
guests had to check-out and get back to the manic
Johannesburg traffic and their busy work schedules.
Above all the weekend proved that these networking
opportunities are conducive to great relationship
building between businesses and allows for a meeting
of minds on a different level. It was particularly good
for our Altech executives to get to know Pieter Uys,
who has been appointed as Vodacom’s next CEO, as
of September 2008.
A wonderful weekend was had by all, and Altech
Autopage Cellular can be proud of hosting a first-class
weekend in some of the most relaxed and incredible
surroundings our country has to offer.
12
Taking in a round of golf is Graham Passmoor (Altech’s Group Executive for
Wireless), Andy Baker (COO of Altech), Pieter Uys (COO of Vodacom) and Chris
Ross (Vodacom’s Managing Executive of Products and Services)
ALTECH AND NEOTEL
sign A MAJOr deAl
Neotel’s MD and CEO, Ajay Pandey, shakes hands with Altech’s CEO, Craig Venter, after signing the partnership agreement
Altech has recently announced that its telecommunications
subsidiary, Altech Autopage Cellular (AAC), has signed a
major distribution agreement with Neotel. The channel
partnership affords AAC the opportunity to market
Neotel’s entire product range, allowing customers to
purchase “off the shelf” fixed line, voice and data products.
The partnership, which is effective as of 27 August 2008,
will provide South Africa’s new telecommunications
network with a nationwide retail distribution point.
AAC, the largest independent cellular provider in the
country, has been a player in the telecoms space for over
14 years and is considered to be a telecommunications
and connectivity specialist channel in the market, offering
a vast range of products to service the needs of their
customers. The company is proud to be Neotel’s
anchor telecommunication’s distribution partner.
As part of offering AAC’s almost 1 million subscriber
base a wider choice of products as well as providing
a one-stop telecommunications destination, this latest
product addition will be distributed by the company’s
over 150 franchise stores, from as early as October
of this year.
The partnership with Neotel will afford AAC’s customers,
many of whom do not have a fixed line telephone or
data service, an immediate proposition of a fixed line
solution to enhance and complement their existing
mobile services. Neotel offers the consumer a viable
alternative to Telkom’s existing products and services.
Stephen Blewett, Altech Autopage Cellular’s Managing
Director, commented “As of today, we are no longer just a
cellular and data business. We have now firmly embarked
on our journey to become the most comprehensive,
valued-added provider of connectivity services to business
and consumers in South Africa”.
Craig Venter, Altech’s Chief Executive Officer, added
“We firmly believe that our latest product offering will
aid in strengthening our competitive edge in the market
place, by offering a more comprehensive product range at
highly competitive prices that will be to the consumer’s
benefit. Effectively this provides a ‘one-stop-shop’ for
all our customers’ communication needs – from cellular,
to data, to fixed line”.
13
2008 • issue two
Altech KDn
Launches
the Digital Villages Program
The rural-urban digital divide remains a big
challenge to the realization of the promises
that ICT exemplifies. This is why Kenya
Data Networks (KDN) has joined hands
with the Kenyan government to bring the
government to the people using ICT. Kenya
has a very low internet penetration due to
the lack of infrastructure and limited choice
of local content.
Due to this, the users of the internet have
always had to buy international capacity
through a satellite gateway to communicate.
A good example is when email being sent
by one individual to another, where both
of them are using Yahoo or Gmail accounts
and the message has to be routed by satellite
from Kenya to the international servers and
then back to Kenya. Thus, these Kenyans
will both have to buy international capacity
through a satellite to communicate with
each other domestically.
Vincent Wang’ombe, Marketing Manager KDN,
demonstrates a solar powered computer to Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Trade Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta (left)
and Assistant Minister in the Ministry for Youth Affairs Hon.
Wavinya Ndeti (center)
14
Project Description
The Digital Village Network by Kenya Data Networks
(KDN) will provide a local platform that will give
Kenyans an avenue to exchange information, store
information and develop the local internet market.
KDN in partnership with the youth in various parts
of the country, will develop centres that will be run
in every district of the country.
The centres that will be set up shall run internet
services with a focus on local content. The main
provider of this content will be the government of
Kenya and those running the centres.
All the clients connected to the KDN network
across the country will have access to both
international and local content hosted locally at
highly subsidized costs.
The KDN Digital Village Centers will be available in
all parts of the country and will be connected using
VSAT and WiMAX base stations. In areas where
KDN has a fiber optic network available, this will be
used instead.
The scope of this project is so that it will be in
every constituency and division. This is a total of
210 hub centres countrywide, covering 80-90% of
the Kenyan population.
Digital Village Network
KDN will also install a WiMAX base station that will
provide services to outlying centers at a radius of 15km,
from the regional hub in a division or a village.
Solutions and services provided to KDN customers
through the portal will include, but are not limited
to:
•
Local email
•
Trade promotions
•
Local chat
•
Real time remote security surveillance
•
Virtual private networks
•
Connectivity to application service
providers
•
Internet / email connectivity
•
E-learning networks
•
Local news networks
•
Business to business connectivity
•
Games
•
E-government
•
VoIP solutions
•
Health care networks
•
Radio and TV networks
•
Banking solutions
Conclusion
Besides serving as communication and information
centres, Digital Villages will also open up channels
for self-employment amongst the youth in Kenya.
This will help in the development of the rural areas,
as it will offer new employment opportunities.
The Digital Village Network (DVN) is a megacommunity project co-ordinated by ICTvillage.com
that brings together individuals and organizations
in the Government, public, private and civil society
sectors under a single umbrella to radically transform
Kenya’s economy, society and politics using ICT.
KDN’s goal is to bridge the digital divide between
rural-urban, informal-formal, poor-rich, young-old,
etc. by rapidly and successfully implementing ICTdriven initiatives in Kenya.
Through the DVN, entrepreneurs will receive
mentoring and assistance in developing their
businesses to make them sustainable, and to open
the rural areas to new opportunities.
Technical Overview, Specifications and Intended
Applications
The DVN will consist of a VSAT hub, which will
provide a single hop to KDN servers in Nairobi.
Local content will be provided using a portal, from
these servers.
Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Information and Communication helps a young girl at the official
opening of Al-Taawon Youth Center, the first Digital Center in the
Korogocho, one of the large slums in Nairobi.
15
2008 • issue two
Altech Scoops Another
Coveted Award
Altech has won another award from the Investment
Analysts Society of Southern Africa for “Best
Reporting and Communications” in the General
Industrial category. These awards aim at recognizing
excellence in financial reporting and communication
and have been awarding companies following this
good practice for over 20 years.
The announcement was made at a high-profile
awards dinner held on Thursday, 26th June 2008,
at the Hilton Hotel in Johannesburg. An article
appeared in the Business Day on Friday 27th June, in
a feature on the awards where Andy Baker, Altech’s
Chief Operating Officer, was interviewed regarding
Altech’s reporting practice. He stated in this article
that “Our integrity and transparency in our dealings
with the analysts has served us extremely well at
Altech, and we are delighted to have been recognised
for our efforts.”
Other recipients of awards on the night included
Sasol, Absa, Gold Fields, Sanlam, Investec, Group Five,
Tongaat Hulett and Datacentrix.
Paul Coningsby, from the Investment Analysts Society, presents Reana
Wolmarans, Altech’s Company Secretary, with the award for “Best
Reporting and Communications”
16
Altech AlcOM rAdiO
distributors hosts the
2008 DEALER CONFERENCE
The Altech Alcom Radio Distributors dealer
channel recently celebrated their 14th anniversary
at the prestigious 2008 Dealer Conference in the
splendid surroundings of the Mmabatho Tusk Hotel,
in Mafikeng. The weekend included numerous
fun activities like a Silver Service Colonial Dinner
entertained by the Sweet Voice Masters Choir, a
German Beer Fest evening with Karaoke, go-kart
racing, “Rock Around the Slots” and much more.
The Friday conference included presentations on
the new Motorola “MOTOTRBO” digital radio and
its applications, introduction to the Motorola Wi4
broadband products and the Motorola acquisition
of Vertex/Standard in Japan. The conference ended
with some great team building events which were
organised by the Dream Team in assisting the
participants to make their own 15 minute version of
a famous Hollywood movie.
The weekend was concluded with an esteemed black
tie awards ceremony, including a dinner and dance
evening with entertainment from the well known
group, Clint & Co. It was a wonderful weekend of
fun, with great networking being done amongst the
various dealers.
The people involved in the making of ‘Harry Potter’ during the team
building activities
The Dealer Awards for 2008 went to:
Altech Alcom Star Award: ACE Communications, MD
Tronics, Attune Technologies, IR Pope & Sons, Maverick,
Triangle Radio Rentals, Radio Electronics (Namibia)
Prestige Award:
Rotomola, Comm-Radio Services, Radio Lady, R&S
Communications, Radio Pro & Industrial, Lazer
Communications CC,Two -Way Radio Shoppe, Kudu
Communications (Botswana), Hazida (Zambia)
Millennium Award:
LA Radio, Scan RF Projects, Communications
Services,
Lazer
Communications,
Olympic
Communications, Midbank Communications, Altech
Alcom Matomo, Thompson Radio (Namibia), Spac
Services (Mozambique)
Top SA Dealer Award:
LA Radio
Motorola Star 1 (Most Improved Dealer
Award):
Two-Way Radio Shoppe
Motorola Star 2 (Most Improved New Dealer
Award):
Scan RF Projects
The Millenium Awardees at the black tie awards dinner
17
2008 • issue two
Is Your Tracker
an Altech Netstar?
Members of the aviation fraternity recently “got their
own back” when a luxury car was stolen from the
Panorama Flight Park, south of Johannesburg.
Although the car was fitted with a tracking device, the
contracted company failed to respond. Local aviators,
realising that time was of the essence, hopped into their
vehicles and started searching the area surrounding
the airfield. They called in a fixed-wing light aircraft,
a Samba, on its way back from another airfield in the
area, to help search for the car from the air.
The pilot soon spotted the car and relayed its
position to the searchers on the ground. The Samba
followed the car into Soweto, where an Altech
Netstar helicopter, flying on another recovery in
the area, intercepted their radio communications.
The helicopter pilot volunteered to join the chase,
and the Samba and the helicopter followed the
vehicle until the thief abandoned it at a shopping
centre and fled.
Unfortunately the thief escaped, but it is reported
that by the time the contracted tracking company had
finished taking the details from the owner about his
stolen vehicle, Altech Netstar had already recovered
and reunited it with its owner.
An Altech Netstar helicopter pursues a stolen vehicle from the air, whilst
ground crews corner the suspects
18
An Altech Netstar recovery helicopter keeps watch from above
supports the KZn
criMe fighting initiAtiVe
Whilst providing air patrols in support of the Kwa
Dukuza South African Police Service’s Winter Fair
at the end of June in KwaZulu/Natal, one of Altech
Netstar’s pilots was involved in the recovery of two
hi-jacked vehicles. Now this is not an unusual event
on any regular day in the life of a pilot contracted
to fly as part of the Altech Netstar recovery teams.
What was unusual though, was the fact that neither
of the vehicles was fitted with a tracking device.
The SAPS Commander of Visible Policing in Kwa
Dukuza, Superintendent R.D. Mathura praised Altech
Netstar and expressed his sincere gratitude for their
involvement in the crime fighting initiative organised
by the SAPS. He gave special thanks to Jaco for a
job well done and added “Due to combined efforts,
crime in the area was at its lowest rating yet during
the period that Altech Netstar provided air support
to our officers. Your presence made a serious
difference to our crime stats.”
The vehicles, which had been hi-jacked in the Kwa
Dukuza and Stanger areas in separate incidents, were
spotted from the air by the pilot, Jaco Bester. Jaco
guided the SAPS units on the ground to the vehicles,
where, in one of the vehicles they found a young
child who had been in the car when it was hi-jacked.
The child was thankfully unharmed, and re-united
with his grateful family by members of the SAPS.
John Taylor, Altech Netstar KZN Regional Manager
commented “It is an unfortunate reality that the
SAPS airwing in KZN does not always have the
resources or fuel to assist in such situations. We
have a good working relationship with the SAPS in
our region, and will continue to support them in the
ongoing fight against crime.”
19
2008 • issue two
The word ‘siyabonga’ is from the Zulu language and translates into ‘we thank you’ i.e. many people thanking one person.
The Altech ‘Siyabonga Awards’ recognise exceptional service by an individual within the Altech Group. This award is given
to the individual for their dedication to their respective job by going beyond the call of duty, and setting a professional
example that others can aspire to.
Each month the name of an employee from each subsidiary company, along with a brief motivation, is sent to Altech
Head Office by the respective Managing Directors. From this list, one person is chosen each month that the Altech CEO
and HR department feel is most deserving of this accolade. The winner receives a cheque of R1000 and a certificate
that is handed over by Altech’s CEO, Craig Venter.
For the month of June, Craig Venter
congratulates…
Marie Opperman from Altech Autopage
Cellular in Cape Town
Marie has proven to be an exceptional employee as
a Branch Secretary for Altech Autopage Cellular in
Cape Town, over the past years. She is always willing
to assist every member of staff with completing their
projects no matter how busy she is. She also saves
money for the company by participating in glass
and paper recycling projects and uses the money
raised from this to buy appliances for the offices.
Futhermore, she’s a good Samaritan and is heavily
involved with local communities by always organising
collection drives for them whenever there are floods
or fires in informal settlements.
Joel Ndoyoyo from Altech Autopage Cellular
in Johannesburg
Joel has been with Altech Autopage Cellular since
2002 and his commitment and assistance is of the
highest calibre. Although he is employed by the
company as a driver, the work he does goes beyond
the call of duty since he often helps with customer
support and sales, which are not part of his work
portfolio. In the past year he has signed up 40 new
contract subscribers for Altech Autopage Cellular,
and this makes his efforts extremely impressive.
For the month of July, Craig Venter
congratulates…
For the month of August, Craig
Venter congratulates…
Victoria Molotsi from Altech NamITech
Victoria is the Sales Administrator for Altech
NamITech South Africa, and although she is not
required to make sales herself, she has managed to
convince past customers to re-order products, thus
restoring lost client relationships. She has markedly
increased turnover figures whilst holding the fort in
the absence of sales consultants, and has excelled
well beyond her call of duty. By her own accord
she has added significant value to the business and
contributed to overall sales of her own free will.
20
Altech talk trivia
Ouestions - Cellular Phones
Competition
Q1. Officially, cellular phones first became available to the public in what year?
Altech Autopage Cellular is the country’s largest
independent service provider of cellular connectivity
and wireless broadband. And so, to tie in with this
month’s trivia questions, they have kindly sponsored
a fabulous prize for this issue of Altech Talk.
(A) 1978 (B) 1982 (C) 1990
Q2. The first cellular phone for retail was produced by which company?
(A) Nokia (B) Motorola (C) Ericsson
Q3. In 2008, how many cellular subscribers are there
worldwide?
(A) 1.6 billion (B) 2.8 billion (C) 3.3 billion
Q4. Of this figure, which country has the largest
subscriber base?
(A) USA (B) England (C) China
Q5. Which cellular phone manufacturer has the
biggest handset market share?
(A) Motorola (B) Nokia (C) Samsung
Q6. Which continent is experiencing the fastest
cellular industry growth?
(A) Africa (B) Europe (C) Asia
Q7. Which is South Africa’s biggest network in terms
of subscribers?
(A) MTN (B) Cell C (C) Vodacom
The HTC Touch Diamond™ is re-defining the
perception of advanced mobile phones. With its
ultra-fast HSDPA internet connectivity, this phone
offers a rich online experience to rival a notebook
computer, allowing you to interact with Google,
YouTube, and Wikipedia as freely as you would with
a broadband connection. Highlights of this incredible
device include a 2.8-inch touch screen with four times
the pixels of most phones, the TouchFLO 3D user
interface responds perfectly to your finger gestures
when scrolling through pictures or browsing the
web at broadband speed, a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus
camera for quality stills and video and a whopping
4GB of internal storage allows you to preserve
more photos, music, files and exchanged data than
ever before. This is definitely one of the best cellular
phones on the market right now. To stand a chance
of winning the HTC Touch Diamond™, you just have
to answer this easy question:
Q8. The country with the largest cellular market in
Africa is?
(A) Kenya (B) Nigeria (C) South Africa
Which Altech subsidiary
company offers you the
amazing
HTC Touch
Diamond on a variety of
cellular packages?
Q9. On the African continent, how many countries
have more cellular phones than land lines?
(A) 18 (B) 25 (C) More than 30
Q10. “An iPhone now has more processing power
than the entire North American Air Defence
Command did in 1965”.
Is this statement true or false?
(A) True (B) False
Competition Winner
In our previous issue of Altech
Talk (Issue One – 2008), there
was an Altech Netsar Guardian
up for grabs with 3 months free
airtime. The lucky winner of this
prize was Wiseman Mpenyana, an
Infrastructure Security Engineer
from Altech NamITech.
Wiseman Mpenyana accepts his prize
from Altech Netsar’s Shona Minards
Prize kindly sponsored by:
Q10. A
The Previous Issue’s
Email your answer to altechtalk@altech.co.za.
All correct answers will be placed in a lucky draw.
Please remember to include your contact details in
the email.
Q2. B Q3. C Q4. C Q5. B Q6. A Q7. C Q8. B Q9. C
Answers:
Q1. B
21
2008 • issue two
Out & abOut
KAthY MOOnsAMY
altech netstar’s eye in the sky
Kathy is the only female air tracker in the Altech
Netstar fleet. She’s been doing this daring job for
2 years now, but started with the company back in
2005 as an operator. If a recovery call comes in
about a stolen vehicle then it’s up to her to track it
from the sky in a helicopter.
Asked whether she enjoys her work, there’s not
even a moment of hesitation before she responds.
“Oh absolutely! I have so much fun doing this, there’s
no job I’d enjoy doing more”.
To do this she is armed with only her tracking pack,
which is about the size of a brick with an antenna
attached. When a recovery case is called in, the
operator phones Kathy and gives her a description
of the stolen vehicle, where it was taken and what
its transmit number is. Each vehicle fitted with an
Altech Netstar tracking device has a unique transmit
number that she has to punch into the tracking pack
which can then relay its signal.
The air recovery team consists of just her and the
helicopter pilot. This signal can be located over a
huge radius, so the first place her and the pilot usually
head is where it was stolen from. They then cover the
surrounding township areas whilst Kathy keeps a close
eye on her tracking pack which relays the strength
of the signal through a number on its display. The
higher the number, the further away they are from
the signal’s source. She tells the pilot to go left, right,
straight; until the number falls to about 75, allowing
them to get a visual of the stolen car.
One of the Altech Netstar helicopters awaiting a recovery call
All the while the pilot is relaying this information
to the ground crew who are also in pursuit. Once a
visual has been made, they direct the ground crew to
its exact location where they recover the vehicle and
often apprehend the criminals. However a missing
car is sometimes in a basement or underground
parking lot, so a visual of it cannot be made from the
air. In this scenario the chopper hovers overhead
and gives the ground crew instructions to go in and
investigate. This communication is only ever done
over Altech Netstar’s secure frequency.
Kathy works for 2 days, then 2 nights, followed by
4 days off. Each day or night of work involves a 12
hour shift, with up to 15 cases sometimes coming
in. Depending on the number of cases during the
shift, she may end up staying airborne for 8 hours
straight! She recalls one shift when she was in the
chopper picking up 3 separate signals simultaneously,
and then had to track each one down.
22
Kathy Moonsamy, Altech Netstar’s only female air tracker
YPC Executive Committee
Meets With the Altech Academy
Johan Klein (HR Executive and Director of studies)
and Glenda Singh (Group Training and Development
Manager) of Altech had the pleasure of meeting
with the Executives from Altron’s Young President’s
Club (YPC).
Johan gave a presentation on the Altech Academy,
what programmes the Academy offers and about its
partnership with Stellenbosch University and the Da
Vinci Institute of Technology. He also shared feedback
from the workshops attended by staff and students
and the YPC Committee was very impressed with
the high evaluations.
Guests included Deidre Marcus from Da Vinci and
Professor Stephan Shepard, an international author
and founder of the Shepard Communications Group
in Vermont, USA. All had the pleasure of interacting
with Stephan and listening to him share his insights
into effective communication tools and techniques.
The YPC, in partnership with the Altech Academy and
Da Vinci, are developing a Leadership Development
Programme for up and coming leaders within the
broader Altron Group.
The meeting was attended by Derick Deyzel, Belinda
Labuschagne, Jayesh Reddy, Greg van der Heever,
Christine Vorster, Deidre Marcus, Professor Stephan
Shepard, Johan Klein and Glenda Singh.
The delegates who attended this historic meeting
23
2008 • issue two
ALTECH AUTOPAGE CELLULAR
hosts a broadband
breAKfAst
Justin Hume (Marketing Director, Altech Autopage Cellular), Stephen Blewett
(MD, Altech Autopage Cellular) and Craig Bregman (Sales Director, Arbalest)
Altech Autopage Cellular hosted their annual
corporate breakfast on 22 July 2008, in the heart
of Sandton, at the Balalaika Hotel. Altech Autopage
Cellular treated some of their 120 existing corporate
and SME customers to a delicious breakfast while
getting the latest update and tips on how broadband
can enhance their lives. Guests were welcomed
by elegantly dressed Corporate and SME Account
Executives from the company.
The breakfast was co-hosted by Altech Autopage
Cellular and Arbalest. The objective for the gathering
was to demonstrate the business productivity that
can be gained through broadband in conjunction with
the right advice from Altech Autopage Cellular.
The programme for the morning included an
informative presentation from Craig Bregman, Sales
Director for Arbalest and Jacinto Frazao, Sales
Director for Altech Autopage Cellular. The day was
a great success and the objective for the breakfast was
met and accomplished.
Stephen Blewett (MD, Altech Autopage Cellular), Jennifer Ramnath, (Regional
Corporate Sales Manager, Altech Autopage Cellular) and Dion Soine (Nedbank)
24
Altech Autopage Cellular (AAC) delights in
supporting the beautiful game of soccer as it’s one
of our nation’s favourite sports. Once again, AAC
sponsored The Ridge Casino’s soccer festival and
donated 10 soccer kits to young, motivated teams.
The festival took place on 20 June 2008 at the Lesedi
Village in Mpumalanga.
In total ten schools took part, arousing enthusiastic
support from the locals. AAC’s donation of soccer
kits to previously disadvantaged teams is rippling
through the community, touching the lives of almost
250 young soccer fans.
The winning team, Zacheus Malaza Secondary School, with
Maureen Kivits (The Ridge Casino GM), Felix Mwamba Musasa
(Black Aces Captain) and Precious Thamaga (Jnr. Corporate Affairs
Manager Altech Autopage Cellular)
Adding to the excitement was a surprise visit by
professional Black Aces players who spent the day
with the children. Not only did the youngsters get
to meet their role models, they had their shirts and
jerseys autographed by the players. The final match of
the day saw Zacheus Malaza Secondary School take
the ultimate victory by beating J. Kananda Primary
School 5-4.
The day was organised and sponsored by AAC and
The Ridge Casino, who were proud to support the
future of our nation’s soccer talent.
A team of schoolchildren who participated in the tournament,
sporting their brand new soccer kits that were donated by Altech
Autopage Cellular
Altech Autopage Cellular
Sponsors Another
Soccer Tournament
25
2008 • issue two
Altech NamITech’s
‘Corn Card’
Examples of the Altech NamITech ‘corn card’, which is 100% biodegradable
Altech NamITech has begun testing an alternative
to traditional plastic cards. The new product will
be primarily made of mielies and this will result in
the card being up to 100% biodegradable. This is a
vast improvement on the zero biodegradability of a
regular plastic card.
This technology is brand new, and as yet no South
African ‘corn card’ has passed the rigorous durability
tests conducted by Visa and Mastercard. However,
Altech NamITech has enhanced the design of the
product, and subsequently applied the same tests at
their facility in Johannesburg, that are done by Visa
and Mastercard. It passed these tests which prompted
the company to send their modified ‘corn card’ for
international approval.
If the design is endorsed by Visa and Mastercard,
then Altech NamITech will be the first local company
to be granted a manufacturing licence using this
environmentally friendly material for banking cards.
Once approval for the card is given, the initial order will
be from Nedbank in support of their green initiatives.
The company will then roll-out this product to other
commercial banks.
26
arrOw altech DistributiOn
TO SELL GREEN ENERGy PRODUCTS
Arrow Altech Distribution’s product range in the
past has been primarily focused on electronic
components. However, with the increase in power
costs and the environmental need for cleaner
energy the company is underway with incorporating
some cutting-edge green energy items to their
product offering.
Foremost amongst these is the LED Streetlight for all
grades of road. This product boasts 50 000 hours of
operating time before the LED bulbs need replacement.
This durability is combined with a significantly reduced
power consumption that will make LED Streetlights a
necessity for future urban planning.
The 60W Thin Film flexible
solar panel can fold up into
a portable size
The 10W Thin Film flexible solar
panel can be used anywhere
The 50mm LED down-light replacement is going to
be essential for lighting in new developments as they
use a mere 1W of power whilst providing the same
light intensity as a regular 60W bulb.
A close-up of the LED
Streetlight
A parking lot lit up by LED
Streetlights
There are also new designs in the realm of solar
panels that Arrow Altech Distribution is soon to be
supplying. These are revolutionary in the sense that
they are flexible, portable, robust and lightweight as
opposed to traditional panels.
The 60W Thin Film flexible solar panel is ideal for
outdoor applications like 4x4, camping & boating
since it folds up into the size of a small suitcase.
The 10W Thin Film flexible solar panel is ideal for low
power applications and can be used anywhere due to
its width of 1cm and its length of less than a metre.
The 50mm LED down-light replacement will eventually become
the world’s standard light bulb
Arrow Altech Distribution recently exhibited these
Energy items, along with their Wireless offerings
(GSM and GPS products) at the Securex 2008
exhibition held in June at the Sandton Convention
Centre. The show was attended by well over 3 000
delegates from the security industry, and AAD was
able to showcase their products to both new and
existing customers.
The AAD stand at the Securex 2008 exhibition
27
2008 • issue two
the
AltrOn AWArds
2008
Some scenes of the stunning array of entertainment performed on stage at the Altron Awards 2008
28
The prestigious Altron Awards are held each year to
celebrate achievement and excellence throughout
Altron, Altech, Powertech, and Bytes. The event
for 2008 was staged at the Vodadome in Midrand
and included an array of entertainment, prizes, and
distinguished guests.
Foremost amongst these was the guest speaker for
2008, Moeletsi Mbeki, who is the younger brother
of our nation’s president, Thabo Mbeki. He is the
Deputy Chairman of the South African Institute for
International Affairs (an independent think tank based
at the University of the Witwatersrand), a political
analyst for Nedcor Bank, the Executive Chairman of
Endemol and a member of the executive council of
the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
which is based in London. The Altron Awards have
a rich legacy of past guest speakers which include the
likes of Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk, Bishop Tutu
and Chris Hani. Moeletsi was no exception when
compared to these talented orators, and spoke at
length about the rise of trade unionist politics in
Southern Africa and the current crisis in Zimbabwe.
The entertainment was chosen to reflect this
year’s theme which was ‘Music from the Movies’.
Entertainers included the Sweet Voice Master’s Choir,
members of the South African Ballet Theatre, Jannie
Moolman (the renowned tenor), Carol Thorns (an
electric cellist), Elena Zlatkova-Purchase (an electric
violinist), as well as an assortment of ballroom
dancers. These singers, dancers and musicians
peformed acts that were chosen to reflect famous
scenes from memorable movies whilst an actual
clip from the film played on a massive screen that
was the backdrop. The awards were held on 18 July,
which was Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday, and many
tributes were paid to this great man throughout the
day by both the entertainers and the speakers.
The popular radio personality, Ursula Stapelfeldt,
was the day’s MC assisted by the renowned comic
and impersonator, Aggrey. Brilliant speeches were
delivered on the day by Altron’s chairman and
founder, Dr Bill Venter, Altech’s CEO Craig Venter,
Powertech’s CEO Norbert Claussen, Bytes’ CEO
David Redshaw, Derick Deysel who is the current
Chairperson of the Young President’s Club, and of
course, Altron’s CEO, Robbie Venter.
When it came to the actual awards, Altech managed
to take home the Export Award which was awarded
to Altech UEC. Within Altech the Most Improved
Company was awarded to Altech Alcom Matomo,
with the Best Company Award going to Altech Netstar,
and the CEO’s Award being given to Johan van Zyl of
Altron’s Chairman and founder, Dr Bill Venter, with guest speaker
Moeletsi Mbeki and Altron’s CEO, Robbie Venter
Altech’s CEO, Craig Venter, presents the award for the ‘Best Company
Within Altech 2008’ to Joel Stransky, MD of Altech Netstar
Altech Alcom Matomo. The event’s most coveted
award and the highest accolade that can be given to
any individual in the Altron Group, is the Chairman’s
DMA Award. This year it was deservedly bestowed
upon Nico Günter of Powertech Transformers for
his outstanding contribution to the company, and
for setting up a revolutionary training programme at
their facility in Pretoria.
Once again, the annual Altron Awards were a
tremendous success, with the event being flawless and
providing all who were present with a unforgettable
day of entertainment and celebration. Next years
event promises to be even more memorable, with a
theme that is being kept as a closely guarded secret by
the Altron PR team. We’ll have to just wait and see
what further excitement is in store for the attendees
in July, 2009.
29
2008 • issue two
The Altech Porsche Challenge
Returns to Kyalami
As expected, Toby Venter made the Kyalami racetrack
his own on 2 August 2008, as he gained two easy
wins in his blistering Porsche GT2. Not only did he
dominate the racing, he was also fastest qualifier with
a lightening lap of 1 minute 43,880 seconds, almost
three seconds quicker than Franz Pretorius’ Porsche
956 which, to be fair, has a much less powerful motor.
Heinner Zimmer was three quarters of a second
slower in his brutal 993 GT2 and shared the second
row with the nimble Lotus Exige turbo of Charl
Joubert. Row three was an all Forza Racing Ferrari
F360 affair as Oscar de Oliveira and Jeremy Pougnet
were evenly matched.
Race one saw Venter only drive as fast as he needed
to and win by 1.8 seconds from Pretorius, the pair
finishing a whopping 50-seconds clear of Joubert who
backed off considerably towards the end. Fourth was
de Oliveira but it was Sharl Parsad (Ferrari F360)
next as Dawie Joubert’s Lotus Exige got the better
of Pougnet to complete the top six.
Toby Venter takes first place in his Porsche GT2
As is the norm at the longer circuits, race two was
run over 12 laps and combined with the Execuline
Shelby Can-Am sportscar field. Spectators were
treated to the sight of the V6 Nissan powered CanAm cars mixing it with Porsches of all shapes and
sizes a horde of Ferraris and other exotica which
produced a 43 car field that kept the appreciative
crowd on its feet. Again Venter and Pretorius had
things their own way at the front with Venter putting
in a series of quick laps and decisively dealing with
slower traffic to win by almost half a minute. The
next two places went to Shelby Can-Am drivers
Alan Eve and Jennifer Murray as Zimmer was fifth on
the road but third of the Altech field.
The Altech Porsches speed down the Kyalami racetrack
Charl Joubert ran into trouble early in the race as
the Lotus lost power and he slid down the order
although he hung on to claim fourth ahead of Ferrari
runners Parsad and Pougnet, after de Oliveira was
involved in a first lap skirmish and finished 28th after
being last at the end of the opening lap.
There was drama on lap nine when Nicky Dicks
(Porsche GT3) smote the barriers hard at high speed
in turn one, fortunately escaping with nothing more
than a bruise or three.
Sharl Parsad, in his Altech Ferrari F360, takes on the Altech Porsches
30
The Altech Kawasaki Masters Cup also returned to
Kyalami, and after qualifying on Saturday morning,
Gavin Ramsay had the top spot, nearly a second
ahead of Danie Maritz, with Greg Dreyer in third,
still in considerable pain after the injuries sustained
in practice in East London at the previous round. At
the lights, Ramsay, as expected, made the most of
pole position, and tried to open a gap, but both Maritz
and Dreyer stayed close by. By lap 2, the current
Altech Masters Champion had made his move and
taken the lead, with Maritz keeping a close watch in
third place, until lap three when he fell at the Good
Year sweep, thankfully walking from the crash just a
little winded.
Behind the leaders, Gavin Lightfoot, Aidan du Plessis,
Dewald Winterbach, who was leading Class B, and
Piet de Vos were all in close combat, just like the
rest of the field. At the halfway mark, Dreyer and
Ramsay caught the back markers, with the leader
then aborting an overtaking attempt, at which point
Ramsay was through, to reclaim the number 1 spot
which he then kept to the end. At the line, 1.780
seconds separated the two, with the winner doing
his championship chances no harm. Gavin Lightfoot
finished third, Aidan du Plessis was fourth with
Dewald Winterbach taking the class B honours by
finishing sixth overall behind Jayson Lamb.
Heat 2 started much like heat 1, with Ramsay again
leading from the lights, the only absentee in the
front bunch being Danie Maritz, who had started
from the back, following his crash in heat 1. Greg
Dreyer duly stayed behind Ramsay for roughly half
the race distance but then decided that, injuries
notwithstanding, the championship seems to be
slipping away and a win was imperative, if he was to
have any hope of hanging on to his crown. He passed
the race leader, with the two still managing to get
away from the field, such was their pace.
Gavin Ramsay chases Greg Dreyer for first place in Altech Kawasaki
Masters Cup
At the end Dreyer crossed the line 0.377 sec ahead
of his old sparring partner. Lightfoot was again third,
with Winterbach again the winner in Class B. Danie
Maritz finished tenth, after starting from the back,
while Jayson Lamb fell at Wesbank Corner, and
did not finish at all, putting a serious dent in his
championship hopes.
Aidan du Plessis and Jayson Lamb take a corner on the infamous
Kyalami racetrack
Ramsay and Dreyer
Share the Spoils in
the Altech Kawasaki Masters Cup
31
THE SAMEER GROUP
Visits Altech
On Wednesday, 21 May 2008, the Altech and Altron
Groups received two esteemed businessmen
from Kenya. These individuals were none other
than Sameer Merali, who is a Director of Sameer
Investments Ltd., and his father, Naushad Merali,
who is the founder and Executive Chairman of the
Sameer Group.
Altech’s relationship with the Sameer Group began
in March of this year when Altech acquired a 51%
stake in three of Sameer’s ICT companies in East
Africa. This included Kenya Data Networks (KDN)
in Kenya, Infocom in Uganda and Swift Global in
Tanzania. These acquisitions have enlarged Altech’s
data footprint on the African continent significantly,
and the deal has subsequently brokered a close
relationship with one of East Africa’s most important
industrial Groups.
On their week-long visit to Johannesburg, the
Meralis were given an insight to some of Altech’s
core operations, namely Altech Netstar and Altech
Autopage Cellular. Before departing on this daylong
excursion with Altech’s CEO, Craig Venter and
Altech’s COO, Andy Baker, Naushad and Sameer
Merali met with the Altech Executives at the Head
Office in Houghton. From there it was off to Altech
Netstar where they spoke with the company’s
MD, Joel Stransky, and were taken into the hub
of the vehicle recovery control room where they
witnessed live trackings of stolen vehicles and also
demonstrations on how this state-of-the-art facility
functions. This was followed by a visit to Altech
Autopage Cellular (AAC), where the company
hosted a fabulous lunch on the balcony of their
new building in Midrand, with AAC’s MD, Stephen
Blewett, receiving his honoured guests. He provided
them with a breakdown of his massive operation
that caters for almost 1 million subscribers.
Following lunch they were whisked off to Altron’s
Head Office in Westcliff where they met with Altron’s
32
Naushad Merali, founder and Chairman of the Sameer
Group, with Dr Bill Venter, founder and Chairman of the
Altron Group and Sameer Merali, Director of Sameer
Investments Ltd.
Dave Shipton, Altech Netstar’s Divisional Manager for
Operations, explains to Sameer and Naushad Merali
how the vehicle recovery system works
founder and Chairman, Dr Bill Venter, Altron’s CEO,
Robbie Venter and Dr Harold Serebro. This occasion
was particularly memorable as Naushad Merali could
interact with Dr Venter, a South African counterpart
who also built his Group from scratch and nurtured it
to the great success it is today. Gifts were exchanged,
friendships formed and a better understanding of their
mutual business ties was certainly achieved.
From left: Craig Venter, Dr Harold Serebro, Robbie Venter, Naushad Merali, Dr Bill Venter, Sameer Merali and Andy Baker
in-hOUse interVieW With
GRAHAM PASSMOOR
the current Altech Group Executive for Wireless. He plans to retire this year, after having first worked for
Altech in 1979.
33
2008 • issue two
Where were you born?
I was born in Pretoria but I grew up mostly in Rivonia
when it was more of an agricultural village. I went
to school there, at Rivonia Primary School, and then
ended up at St David’s Marist Brothers for high
school. For varsity I went to Wits, but this was after
we had moved to Benoni on the East Rand, so I took
the train there and back everyday. This was also after
I had finished my compulsory time in the army, which
was 9 months in those days. In 1969 I left Wits when
I had completed my degree in Electrical Engineering.
After varsity, what was your first job?
I had a bursary from Eskom for my tertiary education,
so I used to work for them during my varsity holidays.
Once I had completed my degree, I went to Eskom
for 5 years to work off my bursary up until 1974. I
worked in various parts of Eskom which was due to
this fantastic program that they had in place. Basically
I was told “Here’s 2 years, you tell us where you
want to go.” The only restriction was that I had
to spend a minimum of 3 months in each place. I
embraced this opportunity and went everywhere
and eventually ended up at Hendrina Power Station
for 2 years and then at Eskom R & D for my final
stretch with the company.
Myra, my wife, and I were married in 1974 and
went overseas later that year to study further. We
both ended up at Manchester University in the UK,
where I did a 1 year course in Digital Electronics. I
remember that it was £250 for that entire year of
tuition, and in those days it was only R2 to a Pound,
so a whole year at a top English university only cost
me R500! What a bargain!
Did you stay in the UK after this, or did you head
straight back to South Africa?
I stayed on in the UK and got a job at a company
called Ferranti. They were makers of mini-computers,
military equipment, electronics and other products.
I worked with their mini-computer design team
which was based just outside Manchester for about
18 months and I was lucky enough to be assigned a
mini-computer project to work on. Looking back at
this is fascinating because I was exposed to computer
technology before the advent of the micro-computer.
I’ve now seen this technology go from computers
being the size of an entire room to the powerful
chips of today.
In 1977 I came back to South Africa and after a brief
spell at Computer Sciences, I joined a company called
Messina Electronics in 1977. It was the start-up process
control division of the Messina Mining Company and in
34
1979, after I had been there for 2 years it was acquired
by Altech. So that’s when my career with Altech officially
started, in July, 1979. It was during this time that I
studied for an MBA through Wits part-time. I learned
about the numbers that really count in business: the
bottom-line, cashflow and working capital.
I stayed there for a further 18 months and was then
recruited by UEC. This business wasn’t part of Altech
as yet, but 5 years to the day after I left Messina,
UEC was also acquired by Altech in 1985, and
became Altech UEC. This meant that I had now been
employed by Altech twice through acquisitions!
I really enjoyed my time at Altech UEC, but by the
end of 1991 I had this urge to start my own business,
and so I left the company and spent the next 2 years
building my own business. During this time I was
really a smous, making contact with clients all over
the place, especially in Zimbabwe where I used to
travel regularly. I made a good living but it was a very
small business involving just me, my bookkeeper
and a secretary. After 2 years of it I realised this
wasn’t really going anywhere and it would always
remain a small entity, so I approached Altech for a
job. This was the beginning of an exciting 14 years
with Altech.
Which Altech company did you begin working for
this time?
It was at Altech Card Solutions, which was then
called Altech Smart Card Technologies. I moved
back up to Joburg from Durban to begin my job
there. This was in 1994 and the company was just a
start-up. We had one order and a team of 5 people,
and this made for a really fun experience because
at Altech UEC I had managed about 200 people, so
stepping back to manage a small team was great. Our
first order was supplying point-of-sale terminals to
ABSA, and the business just grew from there. By
the time I left Altech Card Solutions it had grown
to a team of 20 people who had built an impressive
business and order book.
After a couple of years, in August 1996, I was
approached by Craig Venter to become CEO of the
then Autopage Holdings Ltd. I began work there at
a busy time in the cellular industry; there were 14
independent service providers and only 2 networks.
Altech Autopage Cellular had an advantage in their
business model which was to resell for all the networks,
and not exclusively for just one like some of the service
providers were doing.
Another advantage that the company had was the fact
that it was in an industry that was just going north
and showing fantastic growth. In 1999 a milestone
occurred, and Altech bought Radiospoor’s cellular
business which effectively doubled our subscriber
base from 100 000 to 200 000 subscribers. All of a
sudden we were a big company and shortly after that,
in 2000, we broke R1 billion in revenue. The business
has shown incredible growth since then, with turnover
in the last financial year being R5 billion.
You are the Altech Group Executive for Wireless.
What’s it been like working with the other
companies in your portfolio?
Altech became directly involved with Netstar in 1997
(it had been a start-up in 1994), as Group Executive I
became involved with it from the outset. I remember
our first year, we turned in a loss of R5 million, but
after that the business showed some sharp growth.
Altech Netstar faced some stiff competition from
a very aggressive new competitor named Tracker,
which came on the scene the following year. But
something I have always admired about the Altech
Netstar team was their resilience and fighting spirit.
This gave them the edge over their competitors and
they clawed back their leading market share of the
vehicle recovery business, which Altech Netstar still
holds today. In 2002, we started the fleet management
side of the company, and in the beginning it wasn’t
easy, we only began seeing the growth we wanted in
2004. It now has over 27 000 subscribers, as well as
an additional 18 000 from the ComTech acquisition,
which is a great achievement.
In 2002, Craig Venter asked me to take on the
Alcom companies. So the current Altech Alcom
Matomo and Altech Alcom Radio Distributors
were added to the fold at this time and I was lucky
enough to walk in the door a year before they
were about to land the R600 million SAPS Gauteng
contract. So it was an exciting time to get involved
there. They’re both solid companies with great
track records, which again is due to the tough and
committed teams of people who work there, ably
led by Johan van Zyl.
In fact I’d have to say that the greatest enjoyment
of my career with the Altech Group has been
working with such exceptional teams of people
over the years. We’ve faced some tough challenges,
but challenges bring out the best in people, and this
was certainly the case during my time with all these
companies. I’ve had a lot of fun over the last 14
years. I’ve been involved with growing more than a
few companies with some really talented individuals
and teams, and this is something that I’ve enjoyed
enormously, and will look back on it with satisfaction
and pride.
A few personal questions…
You did say earlier that you were married. Do you
have any children?
Yes, Myra and I have been married 34 years and have
2 young adults. My son, Duncan, studied medicine
at Wits and is now studying to do Anaesthetics.
He will shortly be working as a Registrar at Chris
Hani Baragwanath Hospital. My daughter, Jennifer,
completed BCom. (Hons) in Econometrics 2 years
ago after having completed Investment Management
at the University of Johannesburg. She’s now working
as an Investment Analyst at JP Morgan in Sandton.
What is your favourite holiday destination?
I usually head to Natal for holidays. We have a share
in a cottage at a place called Karkloof near Howick,
so we often go down there. It’s a range of hills in the
Natal Midlands and a great spot to go for weekends
and to relax.
Which pastimes do you particularly enjoy?
I like playing golf. I’m not a good golfer but I do
enjoy it, especially when I’m at one of the wonderful
golf estates that we have on the coast. I’m
definitely going to put a lot of time into improving
my game now that I have the time. I’m an amateur
photographer and I also enjoy 4x4 trips and
excursions on the open road.
What is the quality you most admire in others?
How do I describe it… Let’s just say that when the
bullets start flying they don’t duck. In other words
they’re tough, they hang in there and don’t give up.
Words that come to mind would be perseverance,
courage, focus and teamwork.
What do you plan to do after retirement?
I haven’t thought about it a great deal, but I certainly
won’t be retiring into an armchair!
35
2008 • issue two
Altech Talks to…
Dr Penuell Maduna
the head of the investment consortium Tshwarisano. He served as the Minister of Mineral and Energy Resources under President
Nelson Mandela, and then as the Minister of Justice under President Thabo Mbeki. This great leader and astute businessman
shares his thoughts with us...
36
Where were you born?
I was born here in Johannesburg, in the old
Sophiatown, before the forced removal of 1955. I
was born in 1952, and so I was very young when this
tragic act took place.
What was it like growing up under an apartheid
government?
In a nutshell, apartheid was hell on earth for all its
victims. Primarily the indigenous Africans, who bore
the brunt of the system but also in general all people
of colour suffered, including South Africa’s Indian and
Coloured populations. We were affected by many
unfair policies and laws which made everyday life
extremely difficult. There were also some white
compatriots of ours, like Ruth First and Bram Fischer,
who were exposed to the hazards of the system in
many ways. I can think of a whole range of people
who decided to take a stand against apartheid and
suffered for it. Some of them paid the ultimate price
and paid with their own lives.
During the struggle against apartheid what, in your
opinion, were the highest and lowest moments?
The lowest moments were definitely the massacres.
The massacre of our people in Matola in Mozambique
in 1991, and a similar massacre in Maseru, Lesotho,
as well as many others within our borders. The high
point for me personally, was the resolution of the
ANC in its 1985 conference that we should begin
to think about a negotiated settlement. I want to
believe that that resolution unleashed the creativity
of many of the ANC leaders and cadres, because
suddenly we were able to think beyond the confines
of the box and imagine ourselves participating in the
creation of a new South Africa.
In 1980 you went into exile. How long did this
period of your life last and where was it spent?
For many people it took 3 decades, from 1960
when the ANC was banned, until 1990 when it was
unbanned. But some of us were much younger when
the ANC was banned in 1960, as I was, and so
for me exile lasted only 10 years. I spent this time
all over: I was in Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola,
Tanzania and Zambia. However, I spent the majority
of these 10 years in Lusaka, Zambia. I was also one of
the fortunate ones who got to travel to other parts
of the world and participate in many opportunities
abroad at the leadership level. I went to the USA,
the UK, as well as the then U.S.S.R. and I must say
there was no part of the world that the ANC did not
expose me to. And for that I’m eternally grateful,
because my mind was opened to a whole host of
vistas as a result of that exposure.
You participated in virtually all the negotiations
that the ANC had with the NP and other parties.
In fact, you were one of the first ANC officials
sent to South Africa to discuss the prospect of
‘talks about talks’. What was the initial reaction
you received from the NP?
I was part of that delegation, which was lead by
Jacob Zuma, and it consisted of him and 2 young
lawyers, Matthews Phosa, who is now our Treasurer
General, and me. Of course we were also assisted
by a communications person. We arrived at a critical
time in South Africa, which was post the unbanning
of the ANC, and post the release of all political
prisoners including Nelson Mandela. So there was
something already happening politically and there
was an expectation of further freedoms. Due to this
we were treated in a much more civilised fashion.
We also understood that both sides had a very
important role to play in ushering in a negotiated
settlement. Because of that, the relationship we had
had in the past indeed belonged in the past. Our
discussions set South Africa apart from the rest of
the world because they resulted in a negotiated
settlement which saw our country hold its first
democratic and non-racial elections without the
prospect of civil war.
After the elections in 1994, you were appointed
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, and in 1996
you became the Minister of Mineral and Energy
Resources under Nelson Mandela. Then, after
Thabo Mbeki was elected as South Africa’s
second democratically elected president in 1999,
you were appointed as Minister of Justice. What
was it like serving under these two great leaders
and how did your Ministerial posts differ?
It was an opportunity I would never have passed up,
not for a billion dollars. The opportunity to work
under them, and with them, for the best interests
of our country was the chance of a lifetime. During
these years the economy grew, stability grew and our
international image went from strength to strength.
I was one amongst many millions of young South
Africans from whom they could easily have chosen
for the positions they assigned to me. So it wasn’t
because of a scarcity of talent that I was chosen.
There could’ve been others that may have been
better suited for it than me, but they gave me the
opportunity nonetheless and I learned a lot from my
years in government. All ministries differ from one
another, there’s no doubt about it, but there are also
commonalties between these posts. So if you were
reassigned to a different one, you would still find the
37
2008 • issue two
basics there, like the laws, the policies, the clearly
delineated lines of authority and accountability, as
well as the collective responsibility of all the decisions
that were made by cabinet. From the president down
to the cabinet and down to parliament; we were all
accountable to the people of South Africa.
When did you decide to leave the world of politics for
business, and what prompted this big decision?
To answer this question we must go back to 1994.
Back then I eagerly wanted to go and practice law
because that’s where my heart was, and still is. But
instead, I was persuaded to join government which
I had no problem with doing. I went into it hammer
and tongs and enjoyed it very much. However, when
I reached my 50’s, something said to me “you do
need a change of sorts in your life”. I had accepted
that a higher vertical movement in the government
hierarchy for me was no longer possible and that I
had reached my peak in the bureaucracy. Another
factor was my family because they also wanted me to
review my position so that I could spend more time
with them. Being a leader in cabinet I had so many
responsibilities and was far from home on most
occasions. So my young family asked me to consider
moving to the private sector since I had already given
government the previous 10 years of my life. And
this is what I eventually did.
You are now Dr Penuell Maduna. Could you
outline your educational history as well as how
it’s culminated in you obtaining this esteemed
academic accolade?
Many moons back, my mother was a single parent
and she desperately wanted me to have an education.
But unfortunately she didn’t have the means, so the
only profession I could go for was teaching. So that
is where I started, but I then switched from teaching
when I was given the opportunity to do the matric
National Senior Certificate. After that I went on to
study law and I never looked back. I now hold a junior
law degree from UNISA called the B.IURIS, the L.L.B.
which I did in Zimbabwe, the Master of Law or the
L.L.M. from Wits, the higher diploma in Text Law from
Wits again and I now hold the L.L.D. Doctorate of
Law from UNISA. I’m an Attorney, duly admitted, as
well as a Notary and a Conveyancer. I’ve collected all
sorts of pieces of paper, and I must say that academic
work truly fascinates me. I love reading and I love
participating in debates and discussions and I hope
those people that have interacted with me would
say that I’m one of the more engaging people. I try
interact with fellow human beings as much as possible
so that I may exchange ideas with them. I love the
realm of ideas very much.
38
You now head the investment consortium
Tshwarisano. What does this word mean and
what does the company’s portfolio entail?
It means working together or pulling together. It’s
actually a name we coined because the derivation is
from Sotho, Tswana and Sepedi. It’s borrowed from
those 3 tongues and of course the spelling would
vary depending on which language you used to
write it. When we were given the opportunity to
join the Sasol family as holders of a stake in Sasol
oil, the question was raised of what name our stake
would be listed under. We then played around with a
number of possibilities and eventually we said “you’ve
given us an opportunity to work together, to pull
together with you” and so that’s how it came about.
We have a 25% holding in Sasol, a stake in Xstrata’s
mining operations and are also involved with other
companies like Altech Alcom Matomo, Growthpoint
and Nedbank to name but a few.
If one looks at the nation’s current political
landscape, it seems likely that Jacob Zuma will
be elected as our next president. What do you
think a possible Zuma presidency will mean for
South African business?
After all is said and done, whoever sits in government
right now is only there first and foremost by virtue
of the ANC having won the last elections. They are
there because of the ANC’s performance in these
elections and the calibre of its representatives and
leaders. If Jacob Zuma was to become president,
it would only be because the ANC had won the
elections and that would be the choice of South
Africa’s people. Because of this I don’t expect any
significant problems or headaches for business
here if he was elected president. As a democrat I
would accept anyone who is democratically elected.
I may hold personal views about many politicians, as
do many people, but if one of them were elected
president in a fair and democratic manner I would
have to put aside those views and accept the results
of a democratic process and live with those results.
So I’m never going to be judgemental. After all,
if Zuma becomes president, we will only know
whether or not he is suitable once he has been
tested in this role.
A few personal questions…
How do you spend your free time?
I play golf, and I’m also very much a family man, so I
try to spend as much time with my family as possible.
I try not to take evening engagements so that I can
go straight home from the office. I love my children
and want to be with them all the time. I don’t watch
T.V. in that sense of the word but I am very selective
about what I want to watch for information. For
instance there are programs on the History Channel,
the National Geographic Channel and the Crime
& Investigation Channel that I sometimes watch, as
well as the news channels to inform myself of what is
happening in the rest of the world.
Where is your favourite holiday destination?
I enjoy going to Mozambique, and also to Swaziland,
with my family. We also go down to KZN quite a lot
because we have some property there.
Which person would you most like to meet that
you haven’t met yet?
That’s a very interesting question. I must say I’ve been
lucky in the sense that I’ve been exposed to a whole
range of famous human beings and leaders. I have
pictures with the Clintons, pictures with the Gores
and pictures with George W. Bush. I’ve met them all:
Tony Blair, Helmut Kohle, etcetera, etcetera. Locally
it’s the same: Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Oliver
Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Archbishop Tutu, Beyers
Naudé, Bill Venter and even Harry Oppenheimer
himself. Who are all very interesting personalities as
you can imagine. That is why I’d have to say the one
person that I haven’t met and would want to meet
more than any other would be God. I feel that would
be the ultimate encounter, to sit and discuss with
Him certain musings and experiences that I’ve had
in this world. I would like to know what He thought
of them and whether He enjoys our perennial movie
called life?
How many children do you have?
My wife and I have 3 wonderful children.
In November, 2004, you were appointed as a
Non-Executive Director to the Altron Board.
What have you gained from being involved with
our Group during the past 3 years?
It’s given me a great opportunity to learn, not only
about the industry or collection of industries which
are the main focus of Altron, but also to understand
first hand what this business is all about and how this
business is conducted. To be able to understand first
hand how a person was able to create something like
the Altron Group, literally out of nothing, and to have
made a success of it is incredible. My tenure on the
Altron Board has certainly given me this rare insight,
and for that I’m extremely grateful.
39