TCS Legends | Duarte da Silva on five South African tech legends

Loading player...
Well-known investor and businessman Duarte da Silva joins TCS Legends to discuss Jeremy Ord, Roux Marnitz, Alan Knott-Craig, Jens Montanana and Bill Venter.
--
Well-known investor and businessman Duarte da Silva is the guest in the inaugural episode of TechCentral’s TCS Legends, a new video podcast series focused on legendary figures who helped shape South Africa’s technology industry.
A two-part scene setter for the rest of the limited series, Da Silva – who knows many of the individuals who built businesses in the country’s tech space after 1994 – shares his insights into the (often colourful) characters who helped define the country’s ICT sector into what it is today.
TCS Legends, which is powered by Mitel, has a great line-up of guests secured over the coming months.
But in episode 1 – the first of a double header with Da Silva – we delve into the people, the deals and sometimes the scandal that helped define an industry.
Da Silva, an avid investor who serves on a number of company boards, is a former director of Merrill Lynch – where his hefty analyst reports on JSE-listed tech companies in the 1990s had company CEOs lapping up his insights, and more than a little fearful about what he might write about them. He also founded Macquarie First South, among other enterprising ventures, and possesses encyclopaedic knowledge of business in South Africa.
A legend in his own right, Da Silva shares often-amusing tales of deals (some of which went horribly wrong), corporate shenanigans and plenty more besides with TCS Legends.
In the show, he chats about many people and companies, but the primary focus is on five individuals:
• Jeremy Ord at Dimension Data (now NTT Data)
• Roux Marnitz at Persetel (now BCX)
• Bill Venter at Altron
• Jens Montanana at Datatec
• Alan Knott-Craig at Vodacom
The show is hosted by TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod, who said of the interview with Da Silva: “If you are, or have ever been, involved in South Africa’s IT industry, this is one show you simply do not want to miss!”
Part 2 of the interview with Da Silva will be published on Monday, 4 March 2024.
19 Feb 2024 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

Meet the CIO | Inside the JSE’s tech engine with CIO Tebalo Tsoaeli

Technology sits at the heart of modern capital markets, and nowhere is that more evident than at the JSE. In the latest episode of Meet the CIO, TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod sits down with Tebalo Tsoaeli, the bourse’s CIO, to unpack how technology underpins Africa’s largest stock exchange – and…
2 Feb 47 min

TCS+ | Cloud On Demand and Consnet: inside a real-world AWS partner success story

The cloud revolution has challenged businesses of all sizes by changing how IT teams go about implementing projects and managing infrastructure. IT service firms have been doubly challenged, having to sell a new computing paradigm to their clients while also practising what they preach and adopting cloud-first technologies in-house. Consnet…
30 Jan 25 min

Watts & Wheels S1E3: ‘BYD’s Corolla Cross challenger’

TechCentral’s electric car show Watts & Wheels is back for episode 3 of season 1, and while EVs remain the focus, the conversation takes a detour into something far less planet-friendly – and far more jaw-dropping. Duncan McLeod and co-host William Kelly kick off by drooling over a wild new…
30 Jan 36 min

Watts & Wheels S1E2: ‘China attacks, BMW digs in, Toyota’s sublime supercar’

Chinese car makers continue their rapid push into the South African market, raising uncomfortable questions for incumbents. With aggressive pricing, fast product cycles and increasingly polished vehicles, the competitive landscape is shifting faster than many expected. There is also an update on Stellantis’s manufacturing plans and what they could mean…
23 Jan 38 min