Shane Chorley has been appointed as the new CEO of Vivica Group-owned fibre telecommunications operator Frogfoot Networks, replacing company founder Abraham van der Merwe in the role.

Chorley joined Frogfoot in 2016 as sales and marketing head. He was instrumental in Vivica’s (then Vox Telecom’s) acquisition of the fibre specialist in 2015.

Van der Merwe has taken up the position of chief strategy officer at Vivica Group, where he will look after corporate development, strategy formulation and execution.

In a statement, Van der Merwe said: “It is a very emotional decision for me to relinquish control of this very special company I have built over more than two decades, but I cannot think of a more deserving person to lead Frogfoot than Shane Chorley.”

He said Chorley’s “fingerprints are all over Frogfoot” and he has “gradually taken over more and more of my responsibilities over the past few years as my focus shifted to supporting other group companies and expanding the group into other markets”.

Chorley said that although Van der Merwe is now more focused on the broader group, he will still play a “very active role” at Frogfoot. Chorley’s focus as Frogfoot CEO will be growing its footprint, including into townships, and extending links to telecommunications towers.