Eyes to the skies for three young black airmen

From watching planes flying above them to marvelling at the sight of them at arms length, three young Eastern Cape men from disadvantaged backgrounds are now on the path to their dream jobs: pilots.

Sakhiwo Kewuti, 32, from Ugie and Siyakholwa Zazini, 21, from Leeches Bay, are students at Border Aviation, working towards their private pilot licences. Constable Qondile Dyeke, 32, from Ngcobo is a qualified police helicopter pilot.

The trio are making a mark in aviation sector and want to leave a path for aspiring young pilots to follow.

Kewuti has a geology degree while Zazini embarked on his piloting journey after he failed matric. Dyeke started as a volunteer with the police airwing in 2007. After completing Grade 12 at Harmony High School in Bloemfontein, Kewuti went to Cape Town looking to study geology. He lived near the airport where he would watch planes, and this ignited his passion for flying.

“It was very expensive and I went to work in the UK for two years and saved about R50 000,” he said. But that was not enough so he went back to his first career choice and studied geology. After that he worked until he had saved enough to study aviation. One needed to fly a minimum of 45 hours and write close to 20 exams to qualify. “The biggest challenge in aviation is money,” he said.

After Zazini failed matric in 2014, he refused to let his dream wash away and repeated the grade. “I knew from an early age what I wanted to be and that required that I have good results in maths and physics. “Sipho Mangesi, a pilot helped me apply for bursaries.”

In 2016 he flew for the first time, and by end of this month he will be a private pilot. “Aviation costs an arm and a leg, I was lucky to get a bursary.” His goal is to captain a Boeing 747.

Dyeke, at age seven, would run after helicopters transporting patients to and from All Saints Hospital in Ngcobo near his home.

Being in a plane for the first time was everything he had always pictured, and he knew right there it was going to be his daily job.