Page 36 - EngineerIT September 2021

PANEL DISCUSSION

Are satellites still relevant in the age of fibre?

hree experts in various fields of satellite and space
communications joined Hans van de Groenendaal
Tfor the September EngineerIT panel discussion.
Now available for your listening here.
They addressed subjects like the economic impact of
satellites and their relevance today. They discussed the
technological advances made by the satellite industry. How
latency issues that were a major problem in the past have
been mitigated and whether South Africa really needs its Dawie de Wet Eugene Avenant Mothibi Ramusi
own Geostationary communications satellite. n Group CEO Q-KON Chief Engineer SANSA Director ZA Space

APPOINTMENTS

Logicalis SA appoints Doctor Mafuwafuwane as security practice manager
Logicalis South Africa, an international IT solutions and managed service provider, is pleased to announce the appointment
of Doctor Mafuwafuwane to the role of security practice manager as part of the solutions team. Doctor brings a wealth of
cybersecurity expertise and over eight years of experience in the IT security industry, having worked with various blue-chip
companies across numerous roles within the ICT space.
Prior to joining the Logicalis Team, Doctor worked for a security solutions organisation as a practice lead. He holds a
National Diploma from the Vaal University of Technology and several OEM certificates from various accredited institutions.

Nutanix Sub-Saharan Africa promotes Phillip de Waal as systems engineering manager

Nutanix, a leader in hybrid multi-cloud computing, has appointed Phillip de Waal as systems engineer manager for the
Sub-Saharan region. Formative member of the local offices, de Waal will be responsible for advancing the Nutanix technical
portfolio, growing its engineering resources and evangelising its technologies across the continent.
De Waal joined Nutanix as a consultant in 2014 and then permanently in 2016. Over the past seven years, he has worked
closely with customers and partners, first helping them design better hyper-convergence solutions and more recently, defining
their approach to their private and multi-cloud environments. In his new capacity, he will lead the technical direction of the
business and will report directly to James Sturrock, director of systems engineering - WEURSSA, while working closely with
Rowen Grierson, sales director - Sub-Saharan Africa.
Westcon-Comstor appoints Norbert Siteyi as regional sales manager for East Africa
Westcon-Comstor Sub-Saharan Africa has appointed Norbert Siteyi as regional sales manager for its East Africa region. In his
role, he will work with the team in the region to drive sales and assist with reseller management, partner recruitment and
customer satisfaction.
A well-known and respected member of the East African tech industry for close to 20 years, Siteyi previously worked at
Canon in Kenya in the capacity of country manager and, amongst other things, served a tenure at Dell in Kenya as channel
sales manager. With a Bachelor’s in Commerce from the University of Nairobi, he has enjoyed a pan-African career, and his
experience extends to business development and management, channel fulfilment, financial and sales leadership.

New Hytec Klerksdorp branch manager appointed
Hytec Klerksdorp, a branch of Hytec South Africa, a Bosch Rexroth South Africa Group Company, has appointed Cobus
Nieuwoudt as branch manager. This follows a six-month stint as acting branch manager. He joined Hytec in July 2015 as
internal, and later external sales representative at the same branch, his previous experience was also within the Bosch
Group, in the automotive sector. He later gained significant experience in the group’s mobile equipment offering, and
subsequently found his niche in servicing the cement industry’s hydraulic requirements.

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