Robe Rocks the Buzz at Mediatech Africa 2026

	Robe presented a range of new products in the DWR Village area of the show floor. Photo: Louise Stickland

Mediatech Africa, the trade show, returned to Johannesburg, South Africa, for the first time since 2019. At the event, located at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Robe presented a range of new products in the DWR Village area of the show floor. DWR is Robe's distributor for southern Africa.

Other Robe Group businesses and brands represented included architectural LED lighting manufacturer Anolis, lighting and visual control manufacturer Avolites, and power distribution specialist LSC Control Systems.

Robe launched the LEDBeam 200 on the African continent. An update to the LEDBeams 100 and 150, the LEDBeam 200 is billed as offering more punch, higher brightness, and richer colors thanks to a LED engine that is just as fast and light in weight as the originals.

Also new were Robe's Arianne6 and Arianne2 LED wash fixtures, which the company says feature outstanding colour mixing, increased output, plus full IP65/66 ingress protection and simplified maintenance; these products are seen as being especially attractive in Africa, where so many events happen outdoors.

Also on show were the GigaPointe, which was central to the show presentation, together with iESPRITE LTLs, iBOLTS, SVOPATTs, and TetraXs.

The stand light show was run on an Avolites D7, one of a new generation of Avolites products to hit the market since Robe acquired the brand at the end of 2023.

The DWR Village also featured a separate performance area that staged a live performance show, Tungsten & Diode, devised by theatre practitioners Michael Taylor-Broderick and David Gouldie. It illustrated how older and newer technologies and approaches can work together for the greater good of imagining a show, and the lighting for this ingenious staging-- on a 4m-diameter stage that descended from the roof -- featured Robe TetraXs and iSpiiderX moving lights.

The Robe team supported the SOS Chariot fundraising dinner organized by DWR at The Venue in Melrose Arch on the evening of Mediatech's second day. SOS Charity is a support fund for people working in the entertainment and theatre industry who face hardship because of illness, injury, or other unforeseen circumstances.

The dinner included an auction that raised 350,000 ZAR (20,000 euros) for the fund.

Robe CEO Josef Valchar comments, "It was a fantastic expo, and also very important for us to support the whole South African industry through SOS Charity and other brilliant initiatives, and of course it is great to see DWR right at the heart of all of this."