The man who built an R870 million South African IT giant

David Kan remains one of the South African IT industry’s most respected pioneers, with a career spanning 35 years.

Originally from Taiwan, Kan became known for founding technology distributor Mustek amid the personal computer (PC) boom of the 1980s.

Since then, Mustek has grown into one of the largest distributors and assemblers of IT equipment in South Africa, with a market capitalisation of R884.39 million.

Mustek’s products are well-known in South Africa, especially its Mecer line of locally manufactured computer hardware.

Since his passing in 2022, Kan has remained revered for his upstanding character and innovations in South Africa’s IT industry.

Born David Chih-Hsing Kan in Taipei on 2 July 1959, he worked menial jobs growing up, including as a dishwasher, truck driver, and waiter.

After graduating from Ta-Hwa Junior College in Hsinchu in 1980, he relocated to the United States to study mechanical engineering at Pittsburg State University in Kansas.

Kan graduated in 1986 and relocated to South Africa, where his father was working as a diplomat for the Taiwanese government.

He initially worked in a cutlery manufacturing facility before attending South Africa’s first PC exhibition at the Johannesburg Sun Hotel in 1987.

The exhibition had been organised by the Taiwanese government, with many of the exhibitors being Taiwanese PC companies.

It was here that Kan met Mustek Corporation’s managing director, Owen Chen, who expressed interest in setting up a warehouse in South Africa.

Kan made a proposal to Chen to allow him to run Mustek’s South African operations, which Chen agreed to. Kan later revealed that he knew nothing about PCs or running a company at that time.

Kan received two $50,000 loans from Chen and his father as startup capital. In a 2019 interview with MyBroadband, he said no more capital was needed.

He also attended a two-week training course in Taiwan, which taught him the fundamentals of IT distribution and assembly.

The man behind Mustek’s success

Mustek established one of the first computer assembly plants in South Africa, assembling and distributing PCs for international brands such as Brother and Microbond.

However, punitive import duties and economic sanctions imposed on South Africa made importing computer hardware difficult and expensive.

In 1989, Mustek introduced its own line of personal computers under the Mecer name to fill the gap left by IT companies boycotting South Africa’s apartheid government.

Mustek’s close ties with Taiwanese manufacturers proved to be a competitive asset in its early years.

“The global PC industry started to take off in 1987, and Taiwanese companies were the main hardware suppliers to the global market,” Kan said. “Being Taiwanese, I certainly took a lot of advantages as a startup.”

By the time the sanctions were lifted and democracy returned to South Africa in 1994, Mecer had established itself as a competitor to major PC brands returning to the country.

Kan was promoted from general manager to CEO of Mustek in 1995, and the company was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) two years later.

This made Mustek the first Taiwanese company to list on the JSE, and it dual-listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 2003.

Kan also became a founding member on the Board of Directors at Nigerian technology group Zinox Technologies, which launched in 2001.

By 2005, Mustek accounted for 25% of computers sold in South Africa, with its Mecer line ranking first in PC sales.

Kan led Mustek as its CEO until his passing on 19 May 2022 at the age of 62, due to complications from a routine operation.

He was succeeded as CEO by Hein Engelbrecht, who joined Mustek in 1997 as group financial manager and worked closely with Kan.

Engelbrecht described Kan as humble, respectful toward everyone, and always willing to help. He said Kan was hardworking and honest, and did not like speaking about his success or fortune.

According to Engelbrecht, Kan considered his biggest achievement in business to be never missing a single month of pay for his employees.