I first heard about Sibongile Sambo as one of the stalwart women entrepreneurs of Africa while watching a show on BBC Africa. In her childhood, she would often step out of her house in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, in South Africa and look for the flying object she was infatuated with. This fascination grew as Sambo grew up into a young woman and she finally decided to become an air hostess. She thought that if she pursued that particular career, she could travel through different countries, meet people from all over the world and most importantly, remain in the skies!
But destiny had other plans for her as she was rejected to be an air hostess citing her height as the main reason. She decided to star her own business after selling her car. She also used up her mother’s pension and had to borrow some bucks from her aunt to fuel her dreams. SRS Aviation (Pty) Ltd was established in 2004 as the first airborne services business in South Africa that is fully empowered, entirely owned and operated by black women. In 2004, Sambo was commissioned with her first flight for the South African government.
Although there were difficulties in the initial run, SRS Aviation managed to receive an Air Operating Certificate by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), giving Sambo the authorization to operate commercial flying activities. Eventually three women got their private pilot license and are employed full-time currently. For Sambo, bringing more female pilots into the skies was not mere occupation but more of a challenge.
“What I’m proud of about our company is that we have managed to penetrate the male dominated industry. Getting to learn the language, you know alpha, bravo, oscar, it was a challenge but we managed to get over it. On average we do 10 charters per annum, and that varies, it could be a tourist charter for $1000 or could be a head of state travelling on a VIP aircraft to the US, which could be about $200,000” says the entrepreneur.
She began brokering contracts for aviation services and slowly managed to score a profitable cargo transport contract with the South African Government by the end of the year.Later, she shifted her focus to private aviation services. Over time, SRS Aviation has developed into an organization that provides personalized services including helicopter, tourist, VIP and luxury flights to destinations across the globe. The crew who are mostly Johannesburg based have flown as far as the U.S. and Germany.
SRS Aviation has always strived to become the dominant player in the Aviation Industry. They intend to create value for their shareholders and bring about a difference in the operating communities. Their vision is to be the number one choice in effective and affordable air service solutions for individuals and businesses, locally and worldwide, by providing an unparalleled air service; aircraft spare parts and ground handling equipment that fulfils the requirements of our clients and that upholds the highest safety standards. They focus on providing affordable, flexible and safe products and services with professionalism, integrity, customer satisfaction and social responsibility as their guiding principles.
The exact earnings of SRS Aviations are behind the doors but Forbes has estimated the annual revenue to be several million dollars in 2013. SRS Aviation has also partnered with sawia.org, SRS Petroleum among other reputed organizations.
Sambo has been the recipient of numerous awards in the past decade with some being, Black Woman in Business Awards (2006), Impumelelo Top Female Entrepreneur of the Year and a finalist at the Cosmopolitan Movers of the Year 2007. She was also named a Leader of Tomorrow by Fortune Magazine and is a member of the think-tank World Entrepreneurship Forum.
Lately, Sambo has been mentoring children and business people in Africa. In near future, she has plans for expanding SRS Aviation helicopter services and its operations throughout the African continent.
