Tumi
Turn back the clock to 2007. Phetogo Molawa, 21 years old at that time, was all over the news for being the first black female helicopter pilot in the SAAF. At that time, she was one of the few female pilots in Africa; hence her celebration. She proved to South Africa that the male dominated aviation industry also has a place for driven women who are not limited by societal norms.
Boitumelo Katisi, Pimville based pilot, who prefers being referred to as Tumi, was just a 15 year old Bryanston High School learner at that time. She had the dream of being a lawyer, doctor, engineer or architect; like any typical South African high school learner. Never did it cross her mind that today she would be viewed in the same light as powerful women like Phetogo Molawa who had the nerve to join such a male and white dominated industry.
Boitumelo Katisi
It was in 2008 when Tumi was given a Life Orientation project to go visit a place she would like to work for one day that she had her first encounter with aviation. Her mother suggested that she went with her aunt to her workplace, South African Airways, to do the school assignment.
On her way to OR Tambo with her aunt, Tumi spotted huge aircrafts making their way to land at the airport. “I’ve never seen them up close to that extent, so it really caught my attention. I was so interested in the planes from that moment,” she said. After picking up her interest in planes, her aunt suggested she rather go sit where the pilots do check in’s for their flights. “I questioned the manager if there were any female pilots as I was there for several hours and only met male pilots. I was told that not many females flew and most settled to be Cabin crew,” she recalled.
Tumi is realizing her dream.
“I knew that moment that this was no ordinary industry yet very interesting and exciting career choice. That day when I left SAA I could only go on about the aircrafts and flight crew I met. I decided I wanted to be a pilot.” Her mentor, who is an airline pilot with SAA, Tshepo van Roos, guided her and showed her light in the aviation industry. Upon attending her first airshow in 2012 at Rand Airport, organized by Southern African Women In Aviation & Space, she fell even more in love with aviation.
Passionate about flying.
“At the air show I applied for a bursary to study recreational aviation as an intern with Recreational Aviation Administration in South Africa and I was one of the four people who got chosen for the internship. It took 6 months and covered the recreational side of flying which I gained a lot of knowledge from,” she explained.
She joined Loutzavia Flight School, based at Rand Airport, Germiston, in 2013 to do her Private Pilot license and met Sergio Gomes, her instructor, who taught her how to fly. Her single mother, taking care of her and 2 other kids, had to raise almost close to R90 000 for the license.
“I worked hard and showed her that her investment in me wasn’t short lived. It was a financial strain and would result to my training being held back at times due to having wait for her to be financially stable to deposit money into my flying account. I decided to start looking for a sponsor,” she shared. So much braveness inside such a young lady!
Brave
She drafted a motivational letter and sent it out to every brand or company she could think of. “I got rejected so many times and even sometimes felt that maybe I was aiming too high, but one day got a response from a company I never thought would probably see my potential.” Breitling SA came to her rescue by taking it upon themselves to help her. They offered one of their watches going for R79 900 to raise funds for her in order for her to complete her Private Pilot license.
After a very challenging time raising funds she finally graduated and got her Private Pilot license on the 1st of July 2014.
Most dedicated student of the year award recipient.
It was now time for her to get her Commercial Pilot license in order for her to be able to get a job in the commercial world of aviation and finally get paid for her flying services. The cost for the Commercial Pilot license was close to R300 000; which was too expensive for Tumi.
Through Highveld Stereo’s 2013 Xmas Wish initiative, Beejal Govan, assisted by Amanda Kandawire and Janine Mahabeer, wrote a letter with request to help find Tumi a sponsor for her studies. Tumi was granted her wish to find a sponsor for her Commercial Pilot license. She was awarded R290 000 for her studies by Anglo American and E Oppenheimer & Sons to complete her license which she is currently busy with.
Living her dream
Imagine if Tumi had given up on her dream because she couldn’t finance it. South Africa would be short of one beautiful black female pilot. She has proved to us that we should never let our circumstances determine our destination, but rather fight to make our dreams come true.
She recently got to shadow one of the greatest airlines, Lufthansa- a German airline- and got the privilege of seeing the current world’s biggest passenger plane which is the Airbus 380-800; it can take about 500-800 people depending on the airline’s configuration. This is a double deck plane that has three classes namely First class, Business class and Economy class. “This was one experience that I cannot describe as it is a dream I want to achieve; being captain on this very aircraft type.”
She also got the opportunity to fly as co-pilot on an Embraer Phenom jet.
She has a dream of being a captain for our national flag carrier, South African Airways, and own her own charter company because of her undying love for private jets.
The Phenom 300
“I want to be able to finance ambitious upcoming young pilots who also come from a situation of having a hard time to finance this dream as it is very expensive.” She does motivational talks and presentations on aviation at many schools, plenty around Soweto, and had the privilege of doing so in Limpopo and the North West a couple of times. “I enjoy doing this as I get to interact with future pilots and help guide them with ‘what’s next from high school’.”
Not only strong, but also selfless.
“I look forward to a great future in this industry as I learnt that the main reason why people never achieve their dreams is their inability to leave their comfort zone and assume risk, even if minimal,” Tumi said. I have to agree with her strongly on this one. We are so scared of failure that we always take the easy way out all the time.
Futuristic
Black child, what are you waiting for?! Your dreams are waiting to come true. If Tumi could do it, despite her hardships, why can’t you? If you don’t believe this narration, catch Tumi tomorrow on SABC 1 talk show, Shift.
Below are some of the links to the interviews she has been featured on:
I’m out! Good evening and God bless.
Ramadimetja Rami Makgeru
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