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Directorate profile

	DR WP (BILL) VENTER Date of birth: 29 July 1934 Qualifications: DPhil (Bus Man) (UJ); MPhil (Bus Man) (UJ – cum laude); MBA (Wales); DCom (hc) (UP, UFS and UPE); DSc (Eng) (hc) (Natal); DEng (hc) (Wits); CEng (UK) A UK chartered engineer and founder of Altron, through Allied Electric in 1965 and recipient of the Order of Meritorious Service (Gold), as awarded by the State President of South Africa for his significant contribution to South Africa’s electronics industry.
Titles: Chairman of Altron and Bytes Director of Altech, Bytes and Powertech, former chairman of the CSIR, and past director of AMIC Limited and Nedcor Bank Limited Member of the Altron nomination committee and remuneration committee Experience: Some 43 years devoted to entrepreneurial endeavours and initiatives in the electronics, telecommunications and power electrical industries, both in South Africa and offshore, firstly as design engineer then marketing manager at STC (SA) and thereafter chief executive and latterly as chairman of the Altron group. Dr Venter has played an important role in developing the South African electronics and electrical industry into the key component of the national economy that it is today. He is a Trustee of The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and a member of the Finance Committee. Awarded the Sunday Times Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 in recognition of his significant contribution to South Africa and the business community. Joined the Altron board in 1980.

	RE (ROBERT) VENTER Date of birth: 7 May 1960 Qualifications: BSc (Econ) (UCLA); MBA (UCLA) Dean’s List
Titles: Chief executive of Altron Director of Altech, Bytes, Powertech, Zetex plc (formerly Telemetrix plc) and various other group companies Chairman of Aberdare Cables Chairman of the Altron executive committee Member of the Altron risk management committee Experience: Four years’ merchant banking experience in the United States, the latter part as Vice-President, Bear Stearns and Co. Inc (1987 – 1990). 18 years’ experience in senior management positions in the Altron group (1990 – current), including chief executive officer of Aberdare Cables (1993 – 1996), chief executive officer of Powertech (1996 – 2001) before joining Altron as chief executive (2001 – current). Joined the Altron board in 1997.

	MC (MYRON) BERZACK Date of birth: 30 May 1949
Titles: Non-executive director of Altron Chairman of Voltex Holdings Executive director of The Bidvest Group Limited and numerous subsidiaries thereof Member of the Altron nomination committee and remuneration committee Experience: 37 years’ experience in the cable manufacturing industry, 16 years’ experience in the electrical distribution industry. Joined the Altron board in 1998.

	N (NORBERT) CLAUSSEN Date of birth: 10 December 1960 Qualifications: BEng (Stellenbosch); MEng (UP); MBA (UCT); PrEng (ECSA)
Titles: Executive director of Altron Chief executive officer of Powertech Director of ABB Powertech Transformers, Aberdare Cables and Powertech Industries Member of the Altron executive committee and risk management committee Experience: Joined the Altron group in 1996 as the chief executive officer of Willard Batteries which expanded over five years to become the Powertech Battery Group, comprising Willard Batteries, Dynamic Batteries, SABAT Batteries and Battery Technologies. In March 2001, was appointed chief executive officer of Powertech. Since 1989, he has been a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa. Joined the Altron board in 2005.

	PMO (PETER) CURLE Date of birth: 19 May 1946 Qualifications: MA (Oxon)
Titles: Executive director of Altron Executive director of Altech: Corporate Finance Member of the Altron executive committee Experience: 38 years in merchant banking/corporate finance activities in South Africa and internationally. Rejoined the Altron group in 1997, having previously served the group in a senior executive capacity from 1979 to 1986. Joined the Altron board in 1997.

	MJ (MARK) LAMBERTI Date of birth: 4 August 1950 Qualifications: BCom (Wits); MBA (Wits); PPL (Harvard)
Titles: Independent non-executive director of Altron Member of the Altron audit committee and remuneration committee Experience: In 1988 was appointed Managing Director of Makro. With the successfully repositioned Makro as a base, he founded Massmart in 1990 as a vehicle for multichain growth in food, liquor and general merchandise distribution. Massmart was listed on the JSE Limited on 4 July 2000. In 1984, Mark won the IMM Raymond Ackerman Marketing Director of the year award. In 2001 he was the winner of the Ernst & Young South Africa’s Best Entrepreneur Award and was one of 22 finalists in the 2001 Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur competition. Mark was also the 2001 winner of the Institute of Marketing Management’s Marketer of the Year award and in 2004 was named the Italian – South African Businessman of the Year by the Italian South African Chamber of Commerce. Currently the chairman of Massmart Holdings Limited and a non-executive director of Telkom SA limited. Joined the Altron board in 2005.

	MJ (MIKE) LEEMING Date of birth: 26 October 1943 Qualifications: BCom (Rhodes); MCom (Wits); FIBSA (Wits); FCMA; AMP (Harvard)
Titles: Independent non-executive director of Altron Chairman of the Altron risk management committee Member of the Altron audit and nomination committees Experience: Retired banker and a director of AECI Limited, Imperial Holdings Limited, Real Africa Holdings Limited and Woolworths Holdings Limited. Joined the Altron board in 2002.

	DR PM (PENUEL) MADUNA Date of birth: 29 December 1952 Qualifications: Bluris (Unisa); LLB (Zimbabwe); LLM (Wits); HDip Tax Law (Wits); LLD (Unisa)
Titles: Independent non-executive director of Altron Chairman of the Altron nomination committee Experience: Former Deputy Minister of the Department of Home Affairs (1994 – 1996) and former Minister of the Departments of Minerals and Energy (1996 – 1999) and Justice and Constitutional Development (1999 – 2004). Attorney, notary and conveyancer. Visiting Scholar of Constitutional Law at Columbia University Law School (New York). Founder member of the ANC’s Constitutional Committee. Currently an active partner at Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys as well as a member of the executive committee at Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys and a senior special advisor of Sasol Limited. Joined the Altron board in 2004.

	BJM (BARBARA) MASEKELA Date of birth: 18 July 1941 Qualifications: BA (cum laude) (Ohio University)
Titles: Independent non-executive director of Altron Experience: Spent most of her life as a political activist working with the ANC Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York and as Secretary for Arts and Culture in Zambia. She was elected to the National Executive Committee of the ANC, while serving as Nelson Mandela’s Chief of Staff until 1994. In 1995, Barbara was appointed as Ambassador to France and UNESCO. She subsequently joined the private sector and became executive director for corporate communications and a member of the De Beers Consolidated Mines Board. In 2003, President Mbeki appointed her Ambassador to the United States of America. She continues to serve as a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and is a board member of the MTN SA Foundation. Previous board memberships include the Standard Bank of South Africa and the International Marketing Council. Joined the Altron board in 2008.

	JRD (JACOB) MODISE Date of birth: 9 September 1966 Qualifications: BCom (Wits); BAcc (Wits); CA(SA); MBA (Wits); AMP (Samford); AMP (Harvard)
Titles: Independent non-executive director of Altron Chairman of the Altron remuneration committee Member of the Altron audit committee Executive chairman of Batsomi Investments (Pty) Limited Experience: Past Chief Operating Officer of Johnnic Holdings Limited. Prior to that he held various senior financial executive positions at Eskom, Teljoy and JCI. Qualified as a Chartered Accountant while serving his articles at Deloitte & Touche. Current board member of Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors (IRBA), Blue IQ Holdings Limited and Eskom Holdings Limited and finance and audit committee of the Development Bank of South Africa. Serves on the Advisory Board of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and is chief executive officer of the Road Accident Fund. Member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and Association of Black Accountants of South Africa. Previous board memberships include MTN and M-Net. Joined the Altron board in 2003.

	PD (DAVID) REDSHAW Date of birth: 29 January 1942 Qualifications: BA (Hons) (Birmingham); ACMA
Titles: Executive director of Altron Chief executive officer of Bytes Non-executive director of Bytes UK Member of the Altron executive committee and risk management committee Experience: 43 years in senior financial and general management positions. Joined the Altron board in 1991.

	DR HA (HAROLD) SEREBRO Date of birth: 12 October 1938 Qualifications: MBBCh (Wits); MD (Rand); FCRP (Canada); FACP (USA); PhD (Economics) (hc) (UFS)
Titles: Senior Altron executive director Director of Altech Chairman of the Altron group Purchasing and Export Councils Member of the Altron risk management committee Trustee of the State President Empowerment Award Programme and of the Duke of Edinburgh Trust Experience: 26 years in the electronics industry with the Altron group. Joined the Altron board in 1995.

	CG (CRAIG) VENTER Date of birth: 4 July 1962 Qualifications: BSc (Econ) (UCLA); BA (Psychology) (UCLA); MBA (USC); MSc (Mgmt Science) (USC)
Titles: Chief executive officer of Altech Executive director of Altron Director of Altech Netstar, Altech Autopage Cellular and various other wholly owned subsidiaries of Altech Chairman of Altech’s executive committee, Altech Autopage Holdings, Arrow Altech Holdings, Altech Alcom Matomo, Altech Netstar Fleet Management Services, Altech UEC Multi-Media and Altech Information Technologies A member of the Altron executive committee and Altron risk management committee A member of the worldwide Young Presidents’ Organisation (YPO) Experience: 19 years in senior management positions in the Altech group. Joined the Altron board in 1997.

	PL (PETER) WILMOT Date of birth: 13 March 1940 Qualifications: CA(SA)
Titles: Independent non-executive director of Altron Chairman of the Altron audit committee Member of the Altron remuneration committee and risk management committee Experience: Past deputy chairman of The Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board, past chairman of the SA Accounting Practices Board, past chairman of SAICA and past chairman of Deloitte & Touche. He is a director of Brait and a former director of Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited, Allied Technologies Limited and Bytes Technology Group Limited. Joined the Altron board in 2001.

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