Dr Bill Venter, founder of the Altron group, is retiring as non-executive director of the Altron board with effect from today (31 July 2018).
Commenting on his retirement Dr Venter says: “I have the utmost confidence in the Board and the executive leadership team, who have successfully repositioned Altron on a new path of growth as an ICT company.”
Mike Leeming, Altron board chairman, comments: “Dr Venter has played an important and central role in the development of the South African electronics industry and the country’s economy as a whole. The board furthermore expresses its utmost gratitude to Dr Venter for his entrepreneurial skills, leadership and significant contribution brought to Altron over the years.”
Altron opened for business 53 years ago when Dr Bill Venter, then a 33-year old telecoms engineer, and several colleagues founded United Electric, which was renamed Allied Electric later in the same year.
Since then, the company has grown from a designer and manufacturer of semiconductor rectifier equipment, battery chargers, inverters, variable speed drives, DC motor controls, DC power supplies, electronic signal equipment and transformers into one of Africa’s leading ICT solutions providers.
Dr Venter has received a number of accolades from both the private and public sectors, including the Sunday Times Lifetime Business Achiever Award in 2006 and the Lifetime Achiever Award from the Minister of Science and Technology for his contribution to the industry in 2009. In addition, nine honorary doctorates and several diplomas have been bestowed on him from universities and colleges throughout South Africa for his contribution to science and technology over the past five decades.