South African drone sector association created

A representative body for the South African unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or drone, sector was launched on Thursday evening at Kyalami, north of Johannesburg. This is the South African Federation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS – another term for drones), officially abbreviated to Safu.

“Safu is a non-profit organisation,” explained Chairperson Sam Twala. “We currently have a strategic plan, but it is for a short time, only for this financial year.” This is because the federation is still in the process of setting itself up. “The complete [leadership] team is [currently] three of us.”

Nevertheless, Safu has set itself a number of missions, to promote and support the development of the UAV/UAS/drone sector in South Africa. Perhaps most importantly, the federation is intended to create and promote a common goal for the South African UAV sector.