Women in the public sector
Bongiwe Pityi is taking OR Tambo International Airport to new heights
With more than 21 million passengers passing through O.R.Tambo International Airport, Bongiwe Pityi has her work cut out for her. As General Manager it is her responsibility to ensure that the airport is operating at an optimal level. Her job basically entails ensuring that passengers using the 42 airlines operating there have an incident free travel experience.
“O.R.Tambo International Airport is the busiest airport on the African continent attracting approximately 21 million passengers this past financial year alone,” she said.
“This means that we are able to connect people through aviation. We are also contributing to our economy as passengers who fly do so for a myriad of reasons such as work, business opportunities, family or personal reasons.”
Pityi's role is to drive effective and efficient operations. This includes engaging all key stakeholders within the airport community, such as airlines, ground handlers, retail and advertising concessionaires and car rental companies, and various levels of government.
She is also responsible for positioning the airport, business and route development opportunities with O.R.Tambo International Airport as a key aviation hub that is focused on connectivity at a local, regional and international level.
“My day typically begins as early as 5am when I focus on issues which may need my urgent attention even before the work day begins. With an extensive key stakeholder community to engage on a routine basis, I find myself in strategic meetings from early in the morning to sometimes late at night.
“Should there be any issues or incidences which may occur during my already busy day, then my objective is to prioritise these. My typical day does not keep office hours.
I am expected to be alive to any eventuality which may impact airport operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” she said.
Africa's first aerotropolis
According to Pityi, the aviation industry is a significant contributor to the South African economy, which will be given a further boost with the building Africa's first aerotropolis in partnership with the Ekurhuleni Municipality and the Gauteng Provincial Government.
An aerotropolis is a city that is built around an airport offering its businesses speedy connectivity to their suppliers, customers and enterprise partners both nationally and internationally. It is a new urban format currently developing around many large airports.The aerotropolis project is one of the flagship projects of the City of Ekurhuleni.
“We are very excited about what this project can do for our country if executed effectively. We have also every confidence in the Ekurhuleni Municipality and Gauteng province as we work together to turn this aerotropolis concept into a reality,” she said.
Supporting local businesses and communities
O.R.Tambo International Airport is also helping local businesses and communities thrive through its programmes.
Pityi highlighted a Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMME) support programme which offers a platform for these businesses by providing them with kiosks at a reasonable rental fee to showcase their products and services at the airport.
“The initiative is aimed at enhancing the entrepreneurial skills in our region and creates employment opportunities to positively contribute to the economy,” she said.
“There are a number of initiatives that we run as an airport intent on supporting youth and young people within our surrounding communities.
According to the The Importance of Air Transport to South Africa study which was conducted by Oxford Economics on behalf of the International Air Transport Association, the air transport sector in the country supports about 490 000 jobs including tourism-related employment and contributes US$12 billion or 3.5 percent to the Gross Domestic
Product.
The Presidential Award for Youth Empowerment is one of them. It aims to challenge teenagers from disadvantaged township schools to discover their purpose and become better leaders in their communities,” she explained.
The airport funds the Tembisa Spelling Bee which is aimed at teaching high school learners in disadvantaged schools in Tembisa to spell.
“Through the Spelling Bee, we have managed to help learners improve in other areas of their learning such as comprehension, mathematics and science, among others,” explained Pityi.
The airport's partnership with Childline sees specialised interventions provided to abused children in disadvantaged schools in Tembisa and has assisted more than 2 000 youngsters.
O.R.Tambo International Airport also has partnership with SIMPLE Tutoring.The primary objective of the programme is to provide academic support to underprivileged learners in mathematics and English through structured lessons, regular mentoring and coaching programmes.The initiative has resulted in learners improving their class average by more than 15 percent.
Piloting of Smart Security
Last year O.R.Tambo International Airport became the first African airport to implement the Smart Security checkpoint which aims to digitise the security check process which will speed up passenger progress through security, by utilising state-ofthe-art scanners.
The piloting of the Smart Security system is one of the key projects that is mooted to create a seamless, less-intrusive and customer-centric approach to security processing.
“With the Smart Security system, passengers are no longer required to unpack laptops and other electronics. With the new system there is almost be no need for physical pat-downs of passengers who set off security alarms because the scanning technology is much better at detecting objects that should not be carried on or around the person,” explained Pityi.
The system also includes a new conveyor system for checking
hand luggage and scanning booth for individual passengers.
Ensuring good governance
She said that O.R.Tambo International Airport remains focused on good governance and accountability.
“We subscribe to the principles of the King Code on Corporate Governance for South Africa 2016 in our approach to ethical and accountable governance.This supports our desire to be transparent, adaptable and to remain fit for purpose in all of our dealings.”
“This can be seen in our comprehensive ethics value drive programme and strong, continuously monitored and assured control environment.This is supported by our anonymous tip offline that the community can call at any time to assist us as an organisation to remain accountable,” she said.
The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) hotline number is
0800 00 8080.
Celebrating O.R.Tambo
2017 marks 100 years since the birth of Oliver Reginald (O.R.) Tambo after whom the airport is named.
Pityi said that the airport was the proud host of an historic event where a 2.5m life-sized bronze statue of struggle was unveiled at the international arrivals hall at the airport.
“The location of the statue is highly significant as it was to this airport that O.R.Tambo returned to South Africa in 1990 after 30 years in exile was greeted by his own people. He dedicated his life to the fight against apartheid on an international scale and laid the foundation for a free and democratic South Africa,” she noted.
Pityi said as soon as the statue was unveiled many at the airport were already queueing for their moment to embrace the statue of icon and take photos with it.
“As a strategic asset that connects Africa to the world, we are truly proud to both bear the name and have the statue of such a great legend located within our international arrivals hall,” she said.
Growth and development
Pityi is very proud to work for ACSA.
“The organisation has provided me with many opportunities for growth and development. It has afforded me an opportunity to lead the relocation of Durban International Airport to King Shaka International Airport as well as lead the Operational Readiness team for the new set-up of a semi-private terminal in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the 2014 FIFA World Cup,” she said.
Pityi spent two-and-a-half years in Brazil working on this project.
“It proved to be very challenging at times but was ultimately a major success,” she added.