People of Vox: Spotlight on Luntu Nqunqa
This is the story of a Quiet Hero – someone who doesn’t look for the spotlight but is nonetheless a leader and inspiration to many.
Luntu Nqunqa, Vox’s Service Delivery Manager for Eastern Cape and the Garden Route, is a modest and humble man, with an inspirational tale to share of perseverance, long-term loyalty and leading through mentorship.
Luntu was born in rural Baziya Village in the Eastern Cape, relatively close to Mthatha, and went to school in his home province.
After school, he studied in Johannesburg and later found work in both the Eastern Cape as well as Gauteng, before eventually returning to the Eastern Cape a few years ago.
Today, Luntu is happily based with his family in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). He recently celebrated his 20th anniversary working for Vox, on the first of June this year, a milestone of which he’s immensely – and justifiably – proud of.
Let’s find out more about another of our Vox heroes.
Keeping Vox Processes Running Smoothly
As part of the countrywide Service Delivery team, Luntu is one of the cogs in the engine that efficiently manages the installation and on-site support of Vox products and services to our customers. When we break it down, it’s a lot of diverse work and responsibilities, and a very busy life!
He explains: “In essence, the Service Delivery teams are the people who ensure that a new Vox customer actually gets their product sorted out and operational, including additional support after the installation has been completed.
“The Service Delivery department is divided into three silos, namely the Service Desk, Installations and On-Site Support. In our region, I oversee all three of these operational silos and the employees who work in each division; and I also manage and carry out regular visits to the three regional offices, namely Port Elizabeth, East London and George.”
It’s a busy life with a lot of spinning plates and travel, to ensure that all aspects of the three Service Delivery divisions are covered – and still, that’s not all Luntu does every month!
He adds: “I’m involved in planning and sometimes carrying out site meetings, and I take care of customer relationships. I also have responsibilities around facilities management and the occupational health and safety of our employees, and I ensure that the fleet of vehicles that we use is in good running order – safety is of paramount importance. I’m also directly responsible for the development and certification of all the technicians in my area.”
Luntu today is known as a dependable and hands-on Manager looking after a key region of the company, but his light was already shining brightly early on during his time at Vox.
How His Career Began
After completing high school, Luntu studied Electrical & Electronics at Johannesburg Technical and Vocational College. He later completed an Operations Management Certificate from University of Cape Town and Prince 2 Foundation he was then able to find work in various technical roles.
These included work as a temporary technician assistant maintaining towers at the former Capital Radio 604, based in Mthatha and Durban, followed by a sawmill Electrical apprenticeship in the Eastern Cape, involving three years electrical training in a forestry environment, and finally as a Telkom employee, working as a technician installing and maintaining PBX and telecom systems in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, and later in Johannesburg. During his final Telkom months, he was referred to Orion (later to become part of Vox) during some site work.
“I had the opportunity to join Orion on 1 June 2005 as a junior technician,” he says, “and I worked as a technician in Joburg from 2005 to 2010, when I was promoted to Team Leader. In this capacity, I managed Johannesburg Central and South and the surrounding regions.
“I then had the opportunity to relocate back to the Eastern Cape in 2014 , when I was tasked with building new teams in East London, Port Elizabeth and later George. From 2015 until today, I’ve been the Service Delivery Manager for Eastern Cape and the Garden Route.”
The Pursuit of Excellence
Since his return to the Eastern Cape in 2014, and his promotion to Service Delivery Manager, Luntu has built up the Eastern Cape and Garden Route teams from very few employees to a healthy number of trained and competent engineers, thereby allowing Vox’s business in the region to grow significantly due to increased employee capacity with the guidance from his Executive Head.
“My preferred strategy when I was building up the team initially was to hire in young and relatively inexperienced new employees, partly to give them a chance at employment and also so that I could mentor and teach them,” he explains.
“My personal philosophy includes valuing a person’s attitude and their approach to discipline over their raw skills. I believe that skills can be taught, but that a poor attitude, left unchanged, can undermine a team.”
Since then, he’s mentored many interns and junior employees, a number of whom have since advanced further within Vox.
“One of my proudest work moments,” he says, “was when, together with my team, I was able to defy the odds and lead a very challenging municipality installation, incorporating six PBXs and 400 extensions, to completion in just three days, instead of the anticipated week and a half. In doing so, we exceeded expectations and were able to make the seemingly impossible something that was in fact achieved!”
And it’s not going to stop there.
“I would like to develop specialist engineers in key Vox products within my team,” he says, “and continue uplifting interns and graduates with the opportunities to grow further within the company. I intend to maintain high operational standards across the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route region, making us a force to be admired across the organisation. I am grateful to enjoy excellent support from senior management, including my Executive Head – Operations, Frans Hoffman, and our CEO, Jacques du Toit.”
Developing a Personal Brand
Luntu clarifies that he had some challenges along the way: “One of the periods that was difficult for me involved my time working at the sawmill. I struggled with the cold, wet nature of my working environment. But my time there was to ultimately form a positive part of my life overall, as it helped me to move forward in my career.
“In addition, my transition from Telkom to Orion/Vox brought some initial moments of self-doubt and cultural adjustment – I really wondered if I would be able to fulfil the mandate sometimes. I found Orion to be a more corporate, polished environment than I was used to, and I worried at first that I might not be able to fit in the way I wanted to.”
To overcome his feelings of self-doubt, Luntu set about maximising his learning opportunities. He explains: “I found mentors at work to model myself on, while embracing Vox’s customer-first and brand-conscious culture.
“I developed my own personal philosophy and decided to ‘Carry myself as a brand’, meaning that I took pains to ensure that I operated with professional humility, accountability and consistency. I want to leave a positive mark wherever I can.”
Today, Luntu’s colleagues and line managers would all agree that he has an amazing personal brand, which is founded on perseverance, kindness, respect and hard work – as well as a ‘Never-say-die!’ attitude.
A Dedicated Family Man
Away from work, Luntu is happily married to his wife, Nokuphiwa (‘Phiwa’), and they have three children, namely their eldest son, Lwethu, who is 19 and studying at university; their only daughter Live, in grade 10, and their youngest son Lunako, who is 13 and starting high school in 2026.
Luntu and Phiwa were overjoyed recently when Lunako was awarded a prestigious full scholarship to start studying at St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown / Makhanda.
“By the grace of God,” says Luntu, “my boy had the opportunity to sit for the scholarship exams, and he then came in first place. We are so pleased that he has this opportunity, starting from next year, to complete his high school tuition at St Andrews College, with all expenses paid.”
Luntu takes great pleasure in supporting his kids in their endeavours, both academically and on the sports field, and is always present at school rugby and soccer matches when they are playing.
“I’ve always been a lifelong soccer fan, but I didn’t follow rugby – or even properly understand the game! – before my boys introduced me to it. Now when they are playing, I’m always there at school – I don’t miss a game!” he says enthusiastically.
“My oldest son, in fact, was the school’s first team rugby captain, and so that was another big thing for our family. It gave me great pride to see him learning the required managerial skills as well as being good at actually playing the game.”
Into the Future
Luntu’s journey from his birthplace in the rural Eastern Cape to Service Delivery Manager in his home province embodies abundant learning and personal growth, an ongoing sense of responsibility and pride in his work, and an overarching commitment to Vox’s values of caring for others, together with service and professionalism. It was not an easy journey at all.
“Vox is distinguished by our strong brand and marketing identity, and our emphasis on maintaining professional standards, for example in our service quality, the way we dress and how we maintain our fleet of service vehicles. I’m enormously proud to say that I work for Vox,” he says.
Luntu believes Vox’s success can be attributed to its respect for customers, responsiveness and strong leadership.
“I see customers having exceptional access to assistance within the company,” he notes, “and clients are easily able to escalate issues directly to senior leadership – we really do have an open-door culture this way. I have also noticed that we show a consistent approach to our customers, regardless of their size or location, which I think is very admirable.
“After 20 years at Vox, every day for me is still different and varied, and I still have ambitions to see where and how we can improve. My goal is to turn my area of responsibility into a centre of excellence, where anyone across the company can call on us for any required expertise or problem-solving, at any time,” he concludes.
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