The formation of Citect Africa
March 2002
News
Starting the New year with >R35m of new projects, ISI and Xycom SA thought they were doing well. After all, not too many South African companies in the PLC and scada field would expect to have a budget of R50m for 2002. But then they were acquired by their overseas principals CI Technologies (CIT) of Australia which is probably the largest company in the world dedicated to scada and PLC integration.
Roger Girdler, MD of Xycom, says that it is a hugely exciting prospect for the South African market place. All the staff and management of Xycom and ISI have been taken over 'lock, stock and barrel' by the overseas company and will be known as Citect Africa. It will operate from the same office block in Olivedale, but the company has had to lease a lot more space to accommodate all the additional engineers. The telephone numbers, etc will remain the same and, since all the personnel are the same as in the previous companies, they are still dedicated to give the same level of excellent service.
l to r: Roger Girdler, MD of Citect Africa, Wayne Morris, CEO, and Wilhelm Swart, Director
However, instead of having access to about 25 engineers, the company will now have access to more than 250 engineers who are skilled in PLC and scada. Girdler says that he already has four highly-skilled overseas engineers working in SA and more will follow when the work requires it.
Internally within the company it means that the local South African engineers are part of the Citect scada development team (not all of them of course). This means that SA engineers have immediate access to any of the scada code - they are now part of one big international company, which has offices in Australasia, USA, Europe, China and now Africa. "When a customer logs a support query with us it is immediately logged onto the international support database so it could just as well be answered by a support engineer from China as by a South African.
For further information, contact Roger Girdler, Citect Africa, on 011 462 6671 or visit www.citectafrica.co.za
Further reading:
RS South Africa shapes future engineering talent
RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa is demonstrating that nurturing future engineers goes beyond traditional classrooms or competitions. On STEM Day, the company shone a light on the full spectrum of its educational initiatives.
Read more...
ABB and Compu-Power bring high-efficiency UPS innovation to IS3 X-Change 2025
News
ABB recently participated in the 31st annual IS
3X-Change 2025 in Cape Town, alongside its long-standing channel partner Compu-Power.
Read more...
Meta and partners announce completion of 2Africa subsea cable system
News
Meta, in partnership with leading global and regional telecommunications companies, has announced the completion and activation of the core 2Africa subsea cable system. This marks a historic milestone in digital infrastructure, establishing what the world’s longest open-access subsea cable system.
Read more...
RS South Africa retains Level 2 B-BBEE status
RS South Africa
News
RS South Africa has once again achieved Level 2 B-BBEE verification.
Read more...
SEW-EURODRIVE unveils world class facility in Gqeberha
News
In a landmark event in the Eastern Cape attended by key customers and industry leaders, SEW-EURODRIVE officially opened its expanded state-of-the-art facility in Gqeberha, marking a major milestone in its strategy to strengthen regional support and deepen its footprint in the region.
Read more...
Africa’s brightest young battery innovators
Schneider Electric South Africa
News
Schneider Electric and Enactus, the international NGO dedicated to inspiring students through entrepreneurial action, have announced the winners of the 2025 Energy Transition Battery Innovation Challenge, funded by the Schneider Electric Foundation. It empowers young innovators to design battery solutions addressing the region’s most pressing energy challenges.
Read more...
Africa’s strategic role in powering the global clean energy future
News
The 2026 Africa Energy Indaba is to spotlight Africa’s mineral wealth, industrialisation potential and the urgent need for sustainable value chain development.
Read more...
Crash reconstruction tests advance vehicle safety research
News
The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Scientific Multidisciplinary Advanced Research Technologies (SMART) Lab recently participated in a series of collaborative crash reconstruction tests held at the Toyota Test Track.
Read more...
Siemens and HD Hyundai to accelerate revitalisation of USA shipbuilding
News
Siemens Digital Industries Software has signed a memorandum of understanding with HD Hyundai to drive the revitalisation and modernisation of the commercial shipbuilding industry in the USA.
Read more...
Accelerating Africa’s smart manufacturing future
News
Automation Day, a dedicated one-day conference within the Manufacturing Indaba 2026, will bring together industry leaders, innovators and policymakers for an in-depth exploration of how automation is reshaping Africa’s manufacturing landscape.
Read more...
printer friendly version