Pioneer women soar into action
Echoing each other, they stressed there was no longer a limit to what women could achieve in the air force.
At the recent Newcastle Air Show the Newcastle Advertiser got the chance to interview two extraordinary women – Major Mandisa Nomcebo ‘Comet’ Mfeka, South Africa’s first ever black female fighter pilot, and Major Nandi Zama, the first ever black female pilot of a massive C-130 transport plane.
The two pilots are alike as chalk and cheese with Zama (33), clearly the more experienced of the two South African Air Force pilots, with over 2 000 flight hours under her belt.
She has also commanded two Squadrons, 44 Squadron and is currently the commander of 28 Squadron. She not only commands the squadron but she is an active C-130 transport plane pilot.
“Comet” Mfeka is a jet fighter pilot having qualified to fly the Hawker Mk120, with aspirations to eventually fly the Saab Gripen 5th generation supersonic multi-role fighter.
Mfeka was one of the pilots who flew at the inauguration of President Cyril Ramaphosa, which was another milestone for the 29-year-old SAAF pilot.
What makes Zama’s rise in the air force such an inspiration is that she schooled at St Gregory College in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands, matriculating in 2003.
She has been operationally deployed in war torn countries like the DRC and South Sudan being pilot commander of the C-130, the military equivalent of a captain of an airliner.
Mfeka had to wait for an opening before she finally got to fly jets. Her dream of flying began in Durban as a young schoolgirl.
Sitting in the terminal building at the Newcastle Airfield, both of them talked enthusiastically about the future of the SAAF and the role women would play.
Echoing each other, they stressed there was no longer a limit to what women could achieve in the air force.
Both stressed the importance of maths and sciences for anyone who wanted to be a pilot.
Both women are role models and have and will continue to tackle the challenges of a patriarchal society as they chart their way forward within the boundaries of the SAAF.
ALSO READ: All eyes on the sky at annual airshow
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