Born and raised in Botshabelo, Vuyiswa Nompondo is a 27-year-old with a dream to captain some of the biggest airlines. Her curiosity as a little girl has sparked an interest in aviation, a journey that she hopes will inspire others to reach for their dreams, against all odds.
“The sky is definitely not the limit – the sky is rather like home”
Vuyiswa comes from a family who has supported her from the day she decided that aviation was a career she would like to pursue.
“My father decided to get a loan for me to start with my pilot training. Despite the challenges I faced with money depleting, my uncle came to the rescue, which is how I managed to finish with my first license. That alone played a huge role in my career, which showed it takes a village,” she expresses gracefully.
Vuyiswa narrates a childhood memory, one that still today holds significance for her as it is that moment when she realised she would like to fly planes. “What inspired me to become a pilot was the fascination I had about who might be controlling it [planes] up there in the sky, as I’ve never seen it on the ground back then.”
She currently holds a Private Pilot License which allows her to fly recreationally. She also obtained a Remote Pilot Certificate where she has the ability to fly drones as a way of generating income to save money so that she can pursue a Commercial Pilot License.
“It wasn’t an easy journey from getting instructors who had no interest in seeing one progress, which ultimately made me lose a lot of money. I was on the verge of giving up, but with the support I got from both my family, friends and prayer, and lastly being resilient kept me going till I achieved my childhood dream,” she adds.
Although she doesn’t fly for any major airline companies as yet, she mentioned that she has flown across the Free State sky between Bloemfontein, Welkom, Bultfontein, Kroonstad, Kimberley in the Northern Cape, and Christiana in North West.
“I’d love to inspire young women by being a girl who chased her dreams, despite all the hurdles along the way, and that it’s possible to come from a township or rural area and become a pilot, breaking the environmental norms that some careers are not attainable.”
Her dream to fly the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 Dreamline is just a part of the bigger picture on her list of achievements. Awareness and inspiring young women to dream as big as she does is at the top of her list.
“I want them to look at themselves in the mirror and say ‘I’m worthy and I deserve to be up in the sky and if Vuyiswa achieved it, I can as well.’ Aviation awareness is needed in most communities so that more girls can get exposed,” she notes.
Therefore being in an environment with like-minded people in the industry has been her biggest driving force.
“Just being in the environment and being surrounded by people who are already pilots made me believe more, that I can do this as well. What made me believe even more was when I went SOLO whereby I flew an aircraft by myself without any input from my instructor – it was the biggest highlight of my aviation career.”
Challenges do arise, but for Vuyiswa who believes that the sky is not the limit but a home, one can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.
“To my understanding, the term ‘the sky is the limit’ is somewhat limiting to how far an individual can dream. To me someone who has felt how it is up there, the sky is definitely not the limit – the sky is rather like home.”
Text and Photograph: Gypseenia Lion Make-up: MUD Studios Bloemfontein Venue: Ferreira Aviation
