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SA takes lead in drafting drone regulations

Johannesburg - The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has submitted draft regulations for the use of drones in civil airspace to the Minister of Transport, becoming one of the first regulatory bodies worldwide to do so.

The use of drones is currently illegal in South Africa, as they do not comply with SACAA’s existing requirements for aircraft operations. 

While previously information from the SACAA referred to drones as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), the draft legislation now references skilled control by calling it Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS).

The SACAA decision to draft a specific regulations for the device, comes after an outcry against the ban on these devices by recreational and professional drone operators. In April 2014 the regulatory body said that drone operators could be hit with fines of up to R50k or a jail term of up to 10 years. 

“The SACAA is one of the very first entities globally to make headway in terms of developing comprehensive regulations. This demonstrates the regulator’s ability to respond to an urgent need from the industry, and also shows our commitment in ensuring that the regulations are in place as soon as possible, as this is the only way we can ensure that RPAS operate safely, ” said Poppy Khoza, Director of Civil Aviation, in a statement.

Read: SANParks on the hunt for illegal drone users in Kruger

Khoza added that drones present a relatively new component to the civil aviation framework, which SACAA along with ICAO are working hard to understand, define and ultimately integrate.

She emphasised that while they are doing their best to make the process as speedy as possible, the issue has to be handled with the utmost care as failure to ensure safety for everyone involved could have devastating consequences, including loss of life.

Many factors were considered in the process of developing the regulations for authorisation.

“As much as we are enthusiastic about the integration of RPAS into the civilian airspace, we need to be mindful of various security and safety aspects. Key among these is that the technology installed on RPAS is able to ensure that, amongst others, mid-air collisions and incidents are minimised. There is also the need to make sure that the allocated frequency spectrum is secure, in order to ensure protection from unintentional or unlawful interference with the RPAS,” Khoza elaborated.

As an ICAO member state, South Africa is actively involved in the ICAO RPAS Panel which aims to develop standards to guide contracting states in the development of their national regulations.

Read: Passenger jet in near-miss with drone at Heathrow Airport

In addition, the SACAA has worked closely with international groups, the national industry and relevant agencies to develop the pending regulations.

The draft regulations were published for comment in December 2014/Jan 2015 for a period of 30 days, as dictated by the consultation guidelines.

Khoza also said that the SACAA is concerned about reports of individuals and/or organisations that are already operating drones in civil airspace without approval.

“The fact is that the SACAA has not given any concession or approval to any organisation, individual, institution or government entity to operate RPAS within the civil aviation airspace. Those that are operating any type of RPAS are doing so illegally; and as the regulator we cannot condone nor tolerate any form of blatant disregard of the applicable rules,” she said.

The approval and subsequent implementation of the new RPAS regulations in South Africa will in no way be a conclusive process. 

The SACAA said that it anticipates rapid changes in the very near future, as drones are a new phenomenon in the civilian airspace and as such, they will adjust the regulations as dictated by the prevailing circumstances at any given time. 


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