Katlego Thoriso Moatshe serves as the new Senior Administrative Officer for the University of Pretoria Museums and PA to the Head of the UP Museums. He is a proud UP Graduate with a BCom Business Management Degree and was a Top-Five Finisher for Strategic Management. His studies introduced him to marketing management, financial management, business law, business ethics and financial accounting.

Katlego joined the UP Museums in 2019, but prior to that, was contracted to the former Department of UP Arts in July 2018. Katlego is also the Meetings Officer for the Museum Management Committee, Museum Committee, Art Committee and Heritage Committee. To find out more about his professional aspirations and experiences working with the UP Museums and his daily engagement with the institution’s heritage and art collections, Nicole Hoffmann in charge of Museum Interpretation challenged him to a one-on-one colleague interview.

Tell us more about your background and upbringing: I was born in Mafikeng but grew up and went to school in Johannesburg, had a nice childhood. Lots of fun and mischief like any young boy and I am the oldest of two boys.

Where and what did you study and why did you choose that field? I studied at the University of Pretoria and did a BCom Business Management. I chose UP because it was the top Commerce University at the time and I loved analysing the different functions that go into a business from marketing,  human resources to finance and how they all play a critical role in a business selling a product or service to society.

What do you enjoy most about your work at the UP Museums? I enjoy the different levers that go into running a Museum environment which is different to any other environment I have worked in. Museums are fast-paced, customer-facing, community-focused institutions that cultivate valuable skills for almost any industry. Also Museums and galleries aren’t just laid back, care-free organisations, they are businesses and need to be managed and run effectively. Consequently, museum institutions rely on the hard work of administrators, gallery managers, museum exhibition officers, exhibition designers and curators which means that people that work in a museum environment end up juggling lots of responsibilities and sometimes even multiple roles which is fun.

What do you find challenging within the museum, art and heritage world within UP? As a person working in a museum environment, we often work within tight budgets. This poses a number of challenges as there is so much to do with very little available. The silver lining to this challenge is that it boosts skills in resourcefulness and maximizing value for money.

What has your experience been like during the Lockdown period? It has been interesting and also frustrating. It has been a huge adjustment being away from Campus, as a large part of me enjoying my job is actually being on campus, mingling with the rest of the team etc. It’s interesting, because I have had to look at myself working from home and maintain the discipline of waking up on time and keeping up with my work, a test of my self-discipline.

What do you do in your free time or what do you enjoy beyond the work environment? Reading, studying, starting to exercise and watching documentaries.

Tell us something that few know about you. I love reading books on Geopolitics, particularly the post-World War 2 era.

Who has inspired you and driven you to excel? My parents, they always believed in me, so you always want to reward the faith shown by the people who believe in your abilities.

What has been your overall experience working at UP? Great, I come from a corporate environment and this is a welcome change. It is much less stressful, but also still pursues excellence as recently shown by the University being number 1 in SA and the Continent.

What are your future aspirations? To be the best person I can be in every area of my life, be a blessing to humanity and leave a legacy for future generations to go further than me.