This year Phoenix Contact is celebrating its 40th anniversary in South Africa. The company was first represented in SA through distributor, MC Tenders, the distribution agreement being signed in July 1969. From the start all the products were readily accepted by the South African market.
In 1972 a distribution agreement was signed between Phoenix Contact and Waco Distributors and in 1975 the distribution agreement changed to a company called Electraterm, of which Horst Meilenbrock was the managing director. This company grew from strength to strength and in 1980 Phoenix Contact bought a share and it was agreed to change the name to Electro-Phoenix.
Under Meilenbrock’s leadership the company grew and the relationship with Phoenix Contact in Germany strengthened. In 2001 Phoenix Contact bought Meilenbrock’s shares, and the company became a 100% owned subsidiary – known from then on as Phoenix Contact ZA.
Phoenix Contact ZA continues to grow year on year and is now a leading supplier of electrical connection and automation technology in the southern African market, offering over 65 000 products which range from terminal blocks to PLCs and employing 51 people country wide. The head office is situated in Randburg with branch offices in Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
The company says it is proud to have supplied the industry with high quality innovative products for the last 40 years, and looks forward to continuing this in the future.
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