Werner Kapp, Altron

The question facing Altron CEO Werner Kapp is what happens next for the group. Most of the easy work to “fix” Altron was done by former chief executive Mteto Nyati in his five-year stint at the company (2017 to 2022). In that time, he transformed Altron from a family-owned industrial conglomerate with disparate interests in mostly the technology and electronics sectors, into something more resembling a traditional IT company.

Under Nyati, non-core assets, including Powertech Transformers, Powertech Batteries, Crabtree and Altech UEC were disposed of, raising nearly R700 million. Those proceeds were used to pay down debt and to make a number of bolt-on acquisitions, including Microsoft partner Karabina and security outfit Ubusha. Nyati described this as “Altron 2.0”.