Major Mandisa Mfeka, the first black South African female fighter pilot to work with the South African Air Force (SAAF), has released her first memoir, Yes, I am a Pilot!, penned by Onkgopotse JJ Tabane.
The book, which hits the shelves on Wednesday, is Mfekas’s story of the realisation of a long-cherished dream.
“It is the story of a typical township girl turned pioneer, a young black woman who has boldly staked her claim in a predominantly white male-dominated preserve of the South African Air Force. Every black girl, a township girl should read this book to be inspired and to dream beyond,” reads the synopsis.
Born in KwaZulu-Natal, Mfeka has been in the air force since 2008 and has flown countless hours. She was also one of the females who flew at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s inauguration in 2019.
In a wide-ranging interview with Sunday World in April 2019, the then 29-year-old said her dream was to one day fly the Gripen.
Having broken many barriers as a fighter pilot, she said as a math and science whizz kid, she thought she would end up in a medical career. But her adventurous spirit kept niggling at her, urging her to seek something more exciting.
Her obsession with the industry started as a young girl attending air shows at Virginia Airport, about 10km northeast of Durban, with her parents. She remembered the joy this brought her.
It was at the age of 15 when her uncle handed her some reading material on careers in math and science that she came across a career in aviation by the SAAF.
She joined the SAAF in 2008 and two years later she started lessons at Central Flying School in Langebaan, just outside Cape Town. By 2011, she had earned her wings, had to undergo rigorous military training and another four years to reach combat status.
“Although I was into sport at school, such as soccer and karate, I couldn’t do a pull-up. But I pushed myself by starting with push-ups, and now I can do plenty pull-ups. You have to be not only mentally strong, but physically too to handle the jets,” she shared.
“You have to be able to fire a rifle on demand and that requires bravery and strength. You have to be able to run as well. When the country needs us, we have to be prepared.
“Also, all the loops and turns and force from gravity take strain that needs you to be prepared for. I spend lots of my time eating healthily and working out to become even stronger. We are also subjected to a bi-annual fitness test.”
When it comes to being the only female surrounded by males, she admitted at the time that it took some time getting used to.
“I’ve always been around girls, so the culture and lifestyle was different and something I had to adjust to.”
Tabane said he drew inspiration to write a book on Mfeka’s flying exploits after the President’s inauguration.
“I interviewed her on my show [JJ Tabane’s View] on Newzroom Africa immediately after the inauguration. I was instantly inspired.
“I reached out to her for over three months proposing to write her biography. Not until I wrote her a letter explaining myself did she agree it was about time to tell her story.”
Tabane says a docu-biography is in the pipeline with Netflix but the project will only be completed when Mfeka turns 50 as part of her golden jubilee.
additional reporting by Boitumelo Kgobotlo
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