The Starlite Aviation Training Academy, in partnership with SmartXchange, the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission and UKZN HIRAX (radio telescope array), has ensured that three KZN women have qualified as drone pilots.

The Starlite aviation academy group based at Virginia Airport in Durban North has been offering a wide range of aviation services and products for more than 20 years.

The three women who are now qualified drone pilots are Philile Khumalo from KwaMashu, Lumka Digashu, a farmer based in Kokstad, and Tasmiya Papiah, an astrophysics student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Digashu said she took the drone pilot courses because she wanted to use a drone for crop spraying and said she knew that as a farmer, she has to adapt to new technological advancements.

“I know that all the lessons I learned from here will help with what I do.

Technology is taking over farming, and farmers are now using drones to spray their crops instead of tractors, which are expensive and take too much time, while drones save time and money.

“It will take you approximately five days to finish spraying 100 hectares with a tractor but with the drone it can take you just five hours, so there is a huge difference. I will use my drone to help other people and make money in the process,” she said.

Papiah, who is doing her final year of a Master’s degree in astrophysics, said she needed a pilot’s licence because of her project.

She said training was an intense and rewarding experience, spanning a detailed seven-week course designed to prepare them thoroughly for the world of aviation.

“It has been seven weeks – at first we thought it was just going to be three weeks. But I really enjoyed every single moment of the training. It has been an eye-opening experience. I have learned so much through this course, even though I had to balance my Master’s and training for this course, and as a woman this means a lot.”

Khumalo said she is happy that she is infiltrating a male-dominated space and, as someone from the township, she will encourage more women to take such courses.

Fatima Moolla, the project co-ordinator, said while national Women’s Day is celebrated on August 9, Women’s Month had provided an extended opportunity to consider the empowerment of women and the importance of gender equality.

“For us, it is such a huge honour to have these young ladies on board. Drone technology and the use of drones is relevant in this time and age – it can develop all these ladies. It is about creating small businesses and people who are interested in developing their businesses by using drone technology as their background and support,” said Moolla.

Jonathan Naidoo, the CEO of SmartXchange, said this had been an exciting project focused on empowering women in Women’s Month and they would continue with such initiatives as they want to see more women in the aviation industry.

The Mercury