Around the world, women make up less than 5% of pilots. And women of colour, less than 1%, says Captain Annabel Vundla of South African Airways.

“Women have always had the backhand in this industry, no matter what race, but especially women of colour,” adds Vundla.

SAA has the highest number of women on the flight deck of any airline. Vundla is South Africa’s first black female captain and First Officer Refilwe Moreetsi is the first black female management pilot. 

Moreetsi and Vundla have been friends for years, both having served as pilots in the South African Air Force (SAAF).

On 25 October, Vundla and Moreetsi commanded a flight together from Johannesburg to Cape Town. It was the first time each of them had flown with another black woman – and the first time in SAA’s 88-year history that two black women had operated together.

“It was an incredible moment, sharing the flight deck not only with another black woman but also a dear friend of mine,” says Moreetsi. “But, as exciting as it was, this ‘first’ moment should have happened long ago. 

“It’s sad to me how big a deal this is,” she explains. “A lot of things could and should have already happened.”

It’s about the little girl in the village

The reality is that the aviation industry worldwide has “always been behind” in terms of gender and racial representation, so it is an important moment.

Says Moreetsi: “This career is open to everyone now – anyone can become a pilot.” 

Vundla hopes the moment inspires little black girls and allows them to see what is possible for them.

“This moment is so much bigger than us,” she says. “It’s about the little girl in the village saying, ‘That can be me’. ”

Vundla became fascinated with aviation at the age of seven, when she experienced her first flight with her mother. 

She was mesmerised by how “amazing” the women of the cabin crew looked. Then she noticed two white men standing with authority at the front of the plane. She turned to her mother and asked: “Who are they? What are they doing?”

“They are the co-pilots. They get to fly the plane,” her mother responded. Immediately, Vundla knew she wanted to become a pilot.

“Being a pilot was always my dream, but I just did not think it would be possible for a person like myself,” she recalls.

But with unwavering dedication and perseverance through the adversity she faced as a young black woman in South Africa’s post-apartheid era, she made it happen.

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It all started when an SAAF recruiting team visited her high school in Mafikeng when she was 15. At 17, after she’d matriculated, she became the first black woman training to be a pilot and the only black woman in the whole of the SAAF.

“This was my opportunity, so I grabbed it with both hands and feet,” says Vundla. “I remember thinking: I’m going to push for this as there is nothing else I want to do.”

This was five years after the end of apartheid and she faced many challenges beyond the mental and physical strain of being in the military. “Rotten apples” expressed their indignation at having a woman of colour in their work environment.

First Officer Refilwe Moreetsi and Captain Annabel Vundla. (Photo: Gallo Images / Brenton Geach)

“It made me feel intrusive, in a sense,” she recalls. “I definitely made some people uncomfortable, but they just had to deal with it and get over it because I wasn’t going anywhere.”

In her time in the SAAF, she was a pilot for 21 Squadron and became the designated pilot for former presidents Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki and Nelson Mandela.

Mandela often chatted with her about his days during apartheid and she remembers him asking her one day how she was able to be his pilot at such a young age, and saying that she made him proud. 

In 2010, Vundla started flying for SAA. Now 42 years old, she has made history. 

Thick skin required

Moreetsi grew up in Tzaneen in Limpopo, where she too was recruited by the SAAF after finishing high school, a few years after Vundla.

When she told her high school peers and teachers about her interest in the SAAF, she did not get positive feedback or encouragement. People were “doubtful” because they had never seen a black woman succeed in that particular line of work.

She went on to become a helicopter pilot for the SAAF, assisting with humanitarian aid, flood relief, firefighting, Democratic Republic of Congo peacekeeping missions and more.

“You have to have a thick skin because you hear a lot of things and you have to work twice as hard to prove yourself,” she says.

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She remembers being told what to do by white men in tones that suggested they didn’t think she was capable. She had to be very cautious – feeling that if she made a mistake she would be “put under a microscope”.

A co-worker of a different race with half the experience would never be questioned, she says, and she would always have to be ready to explain her experience and list items from her CV.

“But I never focused on the people who questioned me. They don’t know my background or who I am, and they are wrong. They don’t know the truth.”

Rather, she focused on positives. There are “many barriers” in the aviation industry for women of colour, but at the end of the day it’s about how much work you put in, she explains.

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She became a first officer for SAA in 2014, which was a “full-circle moment” for her. She always envisioned working for SAA because it was the first airline she flew with.

“The flight deck is for anyone who is willing to work hard,” says Moreetsi. “Little girls of colour, you can do whatever you seek to do, and your race or gender will not stop you.”

Overwhelming public response

Both Vundla and Moreetsi are overwhelmed by the positive response from the public in the past week. 

Vundla describes being moved by an African woman who reached out to her, saying she had lost all hope but when she heard this story she felt she could accomplish something like this one day, too.

Seniors, adults and young children have sent the two women “countless” messages of inspiration on social media.

Many South Africans are feeling “depressed” from hearing bad news so often, and Vundla believes her and her friend’s achievements are “something to give hope”. 

“People want to be involved in this big moment, and parents are asking me how their children can have this future,” she says. “People have hope.” DM168

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.