SACAA Annual Report 2022_23

PART B I Performance Information

3. OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANISATION’S PERFORMANCE 3.1 Aviation Personnel Licensing 3.1.1 Personnel Licensing

The SACAA is responsible for licensing aviation personnel, including pilots, cabin crew, aircraft maintenance engineers and air traffic controllers. For the personnel to qualify for these licences, they are expected to be competent, and, in this regard, the SACAA administers examinations that follow a particular curriculum as required by the Civil Aviation Regulations. Concerning the licences issued during the reporting period, there are changes in the demographics of licences issued. Regarding pilot numbers, the number of African licence holders improved from 11% to 15%, coloureds increased from 2% to 3%, and Indians remained the same at 3%. White pilot licence holders decreased from 84% to 79%.

In relation to the whole licence population, including cabin crew, air traffic controllers and aircraft maintenance engineers, an improvement is only noted among the African and Coloured populations, whilst a slight decrease is recorded with Indian licence holders. White licence holders decreased from 73% to 70,5% during the reporting period. The gradual improvement is still encouraging, as it highlights the consistent efforts of the government and its entities in addressing the lack of transformation in the aviation industry.

40 I Annual Report 2022/23 I Performance Information