IT Personality, ICT Leader named
BY
BANDILE SIKWANE , ITWEB JOURNALIST
Johannesburg, 26 October 2006
]
- Anthony Fitzhenry, CEO of Axiz, scooped the IT
Personality of the Year title at the
Computer Society of SA
(CSSA) President's Banquet, held in Sandton last night.
Dr Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, CEO of Sentech, won the ICT Leadership Award
in recognition of her leadership in the broader telecoms sector.
Photo: Mzu Nhlabati |
|
IT Personality of the Year 2006 Anthony Fitzhenry dedicated his
award to the 600 employees at his company, who all share a stake in
the business. |
|
Fitzhenry dedicated his award to the 600 employees at his company, who
all share a stake in the business.
Described by the judges as “a social reformist with a deep sense of what is
true and fair”, Fitzhenry was praised for establishing a standard-setting
memory
manufacturing plant,
for innovation in
business management
and transformation, as well as community initiatives such as providing
bicycles for children in rural areas.
Fitzhenry said he was proud of the South African IT industry and the
world-class capabilities of its people. “The greatest accomplishment for our
company is to be the leading flash memory maker in the country. We have
achieved this when people said it could not be done, that we could not
compete against China.”
Neville Willemse, consulting manager at Gartner Africa and one of the
judges, said: “This is a man who started his company from nothing to become
the leading IT manufacturing company in SA. His innovation, management style
and commitment to the community at large are exemplary.”
Photo: Mzu Nhlabati |
| “This
imposes another obligation on me to do more than I've done,” said Dr
Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane on receiving the ICT Leader award. |
|
Mokone-Matabane, the 2006 ICT Leader, succeeds industry leaders
recognised in earlier years: Andile Ngcaba, Alewyn Burger, Ken Jarvis, and
last year's winner professor Basie von Solms, head of the Academy for IT at
the University of Johannesburg, from whom she received the award last night.
“This imposes another obligation on me to do more than I've done,” said
Mokone-Matabane.
Other top five finalists were Viola Manuel, executive director of the Cape
IT Initiative; Hamilton Ratshefola, CEO of Cornastone Consulting; and Rob
Sussman, founder of Integr8 IT.
The judges said “each of our finalists, in their own way, did what everyone
said can't be done” and choosing the winners was a tough decision.
Photo: Mzu Nhlabati |
| Ron Warren,
recipient of the CSSA Fellowship Award, said he'd retire when his
dreams stop coming true. |
|
The event also saw Ron Warren receive the CSSA/Johnnic Publishing
Fellowship Award. “People always ask when I intend to retire; the answer to
that question is simple – when my dreams stop coming true,” said the
75-year-old veteran in his acceptance speech.
The CSSA, in association with ITWeb and Gartner Africa, presents the annual
IT Personality of the Year Awards, which recognise individuals who have made
an outstanding contribution to the growth and development of the South
African IT industry over the past year.
Previous recipients include former CEO of Business Connexion Benjamin
Mophatlane, in 2002; executive director of Altron and chairman of the ICT
empowerment charter working group Dali Mpofu, in 2003;
executive chairman of Torque-IT SA Mthunzi Mdwaba, in 2004; and former CIO
of the South African Post Office Ntsundeni Madzunya, in 2005.
