2 minutes read time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Motaung Kabelo Kagiso, a Tourism Management graduate from Mpumalanga, celebrated his achievements at the VUT Spring Graduations, marking the culmination of years of dedication both on the volleyball court and in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Motaung discovered his passion for volleyball in 2016 during an Inter-Provincial Tournament in Bloemfontein, where he represented Mpumalanga. \u201cThere was a University Sport South Africa (USSA) team in that tournament that had players from the Vaal University of Technology (VUT), and the volleyball they were playing was exceptional. I couldn\u2019t believe what I was watching,\u201d he recalled. From that moment, his goal was clear: he wanted to be part of the USSA team, and VUT became his destination. \u201cSeeing the level of volleyball at VUT, I knew I wanted to be developed there,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Mr Motaung\u2019s most unforgettable moments was being selected for the USSA team in the Central and Southern Africa Sports Association Games in Pretoria in 2024, where the team won Gold. \u201cIt was a dream come true. Initially, I just wanted to be part of the team, I didn\u2019t care about winning or losing, but we ended up taking Gold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout his time at VUT, Mr Motaung also achieved recognition as the best defender in Club Champs (2023), and in USSA Beach Volleyball Championships (2024) and Indoor (2025), alongside winning USSA Gold three times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Motaung credits his success to focus and discipline. \u201cAt VUT, you\u2019re told you can only focus on two things: school and volleyball. If you add distractions, like chasing women or alcohol, neither will work. I came to VUT out of love for the sport, so it was easy to stay disciplined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Support from his coach was also pivotal. \u201cOnce you become part of VUT volleyball, you become family. Our coach wants us to win in life even more than on the court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Volleyball has shaped Mr Motaung\u2019s character, endurance, confidence, and resilience. He encourages fellow students to adopt a champion\u2019s mindset, as VUT is a place where champions meet, both academically and in sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead, Mr Motaung plans to further his studies while exploring career opportunities, keeping volleyball as part of his life, though he is focused on reaching his professional and academic goals first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflecting on his VUT journey, he describes it in one word: golden. \u201cI had the opportunity to spend time with those who came before me, learning from them and embracing the VUT volleyball culture. That guidance has kept me winning ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “VUT Tourism graduate Motaung Kabelo Kagiso celebrates Spring Graduation, showcasing a journey of discipline, dedication & sporting excellence from volleyball […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news-vaal-university-of-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27811,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27805\/revisions\/27811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"VUT](\"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Kabelo-1024x576.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n