In a surprise development, Vox Telecom has announced that its CEO, Tony van Marken, is stepping down. He will leave the AltX-listed telecommunications company at the end of March.

“Guiding Vox over the past five years has been a tremendous adventure and I’m proud of our achievements in building the group into the serious contender it is today,” Van Marken says in a statement.

“I have been commuting between the company’s headquarters in Johannesburg and my home in Franschhoek for the last five years,” he says. “This is not a situation that is easy on my family and personal life and it is for that reason that I have decided to leave Vox.”

Van Marken says he plans to take the rest of 2011 off to spend time with his wife and sons, as well as indulging his passion for cycling and mountain climbing.

Doug Reed, Vox’s MD, will assume Van Marken’s responsibilities at the company. “Doug and his team know exactly where the Vox group is going and I have no doubt about their ability to achieve their goals.”

Van Marken will remain a shareholder of Vox, which is trading under cautionary, believed to be related to a planned delisting. — Staff reporter, TechCentral