People of Vox: Peter Motaung
“There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.” – Roger Staubach, American Professional Football Player
Peter Motaung, Vox’s Service Manager for Fibre to the Business, is known amongst his colleagues as being a calm, positive leader who is simultaneously kind and caring, while still promoting accountability and responsibility among his team members.
Having been with Vox for 17 years already, Peter has progressed through various technical and operational roles during his time with the company so far, which has helped him to understand Vox’s business holistically and comprehensively.
In short, he’s someone who’s always prepared to ‘go the extra mile’, and his colleagues can always count on him to assist and solve any challenges – one of the reasons he was the first ever winner of the ‘Voscars Awards’, Vox’s internal achievement acknowledgements!
We find out more about this humble and well-liked Vox all-rounder.
A Customer-Centric Focus
Peter explains: “I’m the service manager for Fibre to the Business, with a dedicated focus on fibre network operator (FNO) partner Frogfoot. My role centres on managing relationships and communication between internal project managers, suppliers and customers. Our aim is to ensure that we deliver quality service within timelines and meet the business’s financial expectations.”
A critical part of Peter’s day-to-day responsibilities involves keeping a firm focus on the client. He explains the core challenge succinctly: “Everyone has got a process. Everyone has a timeline, but I think that at the end of the day, our customers are at the centre of everything, and communication is key. Failure to communicate properly with your customers is like putting yourself into the ‘blackout’ situation of load shedding!”
He believes Vox is differentiated in the market by its customer experience: “Our customer experience is the defining factor for us. I firmly believe that we are reliable and transparent with our customers.”
Understanding the Business Holistically
Peter joined Vox as a Level One call-centre agent and quickly progressed through various technical and operational roles, including in the monitoring team and later in the ‘Fishbone’ department.
He explains: “This was an ADSL aggregation solution designed to combine multiple ADSL lines for higher throughput. ADSL is, of course, being phased out today, but when I worked in the Fishbone department, we aggregated multiple broadband lines and thereby allowed businesses to experience far higher connectivity speeds than were previously available. It was an innovative and extremely effective solution before Fibre became widely available.”
Peter also spent time in message and collaboration (email setup) and later joined the advanced team handling firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs). He recalls those moves as formative and says: “The variety of departments gave me many different types of experiences of connectivity, which came together to help me understand the business end-to-end.”
Peter attributes much of his development to the people he has worked with and the leadership experiences he was exposed to during his journey, including interacting with long-serving seniors along the way. But the learning journey is nowhere near over, he says: “Despite my relatively long tenure at Vox to date, I think I still have a lot to learn, and I’m very much looking forward to it!”
Lifelong Learning
Peter first prepared for his journey within the Vox family through his early studies after school, when he completed his entry-level IT qualifications, namely A+ and networking (N+) courses, over two years.
The A+ certification is the industry standard for starting an IT career, preparing individuals for roles like becoming a help desk technician, field service technician and IT support specialist. In turn, the Network+ certification builds on the A+ certification and is suitable for people who want to specialise in network administration and support roles.
Peter followed a pragmatic approach to his learning by first studying to get his initial qualifications completed, and then growing his qualifications further while working. He first worked for a printing company after completing his tertiary education and then got a position at Vox after about two years.
He explains: “I was very fortunate in that Vox supported my further training, and I was able to complete an NQF Level 5 project management course through the relevant SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority). Vox gave me a great opportunity to start ‘unpacking’ what I had previously studied, and then take it further.
“I found studying while working to be both challenging and exciting, and the practical relevance of the courses made it easier. This was because even though I was studying, it didn’t really feel onerous because I could at any time bring an understanding of what I was studying into the day-to-day operations of my work, which I appreciated and enjoyed.”
Peter makes it plain that he regards himself as being a lifelong learner: “Staying relevant requires ongoing learning, and it’s my intention to continue studying in various ways,” he says enthusiastically. “I also enjoy mentoring interns and passing on practical knowledge.”
For those looking to learn from his own example, Peter says: “Be eager to learn, resilient, and passionate about leadership. Vox offers a vast array of products and divisions to explore.”
Giving Back to the Community
“A person is a person because of other people.” – South African proverb highlighting the importance of community
Away from work, Peter is involved in mentoring in a different way: he helps to run a football club for children in his hometown. He explains: “I grew up in the small Free State town of Arlington, and I cherish its closeness and the feelings of safety and community that I experience there whenever I go back for a visit. I take great pride in giving back to the town that raised me by trying to help and empower young boys through soccer.
“Together with my cousin, I co-founded an under-13 soccer team in Arlington, which I continue to support, both financially as well as with my time and energy, today. The club has about 25 boys aged roughly nine to 14 and is known as the ‘Young Masters’ – the boys themselves came up with the name, and it expresses their desire to excel and move forward with the sport. The club operates with a focus on discipline and keeping the kids engaged in healthy sports, and away from other, potentially negative influences.”
He adds that the club follows a practical approach by keeping the parents involved and ensuring that limited training days mean that schoolwork isn’t neglected.
“The club is guided by a regular coach who is helped by a number of volunteers. Everyone involved is motivated to work together to keep the youngsters off the street and out of trouble, and help them to become future leaders. I hope that one day my own young son, who is still under five, will want to join the Young Masters!”
Creating Order from Complex Situations
Both at work and away from it, as well as on and off the soccer field, Peter’s message is consistent and positive – his colleagues say, with great affection, that he carries out his work with a boundless energy and a commitment to doing things the right way.
His long tenure at Vox has given him broad technical and operational insight, and he frames his work with a genuine customer-first philosophy. He combines his professional focus with genuine community engagement through the Young Masters football club, which embodies his ongoing interest in learning and mentorship. You could say that Peter has truly ‘mastered’ the art of moving forward with positivity and grace.
“Having to deal with a complex situation, bringing disparate stakeholders together and coming up with a solution to exceed customers’ expectations, is something that I find both challenging and exciting – it’s what I enjoy most in life! And above all else, communication is always key,” he concludes.
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