Sibongile Sambo turned her dream of flight into reality by becoming the first black female to own an aviation company in South Africa. Her story shows us that real go getters are not defined or defeated by their difficulties.
Born in 1974 in Shatale Township in Bushbuckridge, Sibongile’s interest in aircrafts started when she was a young girl. Whenever she saw a plane flying overhead, she would stop immediately and imagine herself in that plane. “I used to play on the streets and I would see these planes fly by and I would wave with eagerness, being curious to say you know what one day I want to know what is happening inside and outside of those planes. The only thing I knew about aviation back in the day was being an air hostess not even a pilot. I tried my luck so many times at being an air hostess, I would dress in suits looking so elegant and look like them (air hostess), I would do well in the interviews because I looked the part and I was knowledgeable I had done my research about the industry but unfortunately they wouldn’t take me because of my height I was too short, I’m still short even now.”
Sibongile holds a number of qualifications including a Bachelor of Administration degree in Industrial and Political Science, a Bachelor of Administration Honours and an Advanced programme in Organisational Development, a Marketing certificate, and a Mining Executive Preparation Programme from Wits University. Her road to academic excellence wasn’t easy as she struggled with aligning her passion with a suitable academic program. “In my first year I registered for BComm in Accounting I failed my first year and I was advised to take up teaching or nursing, I said no I would rather stay at home if that’s the case. I then registered a BA in Industrial and Political Science”.
On the road to founding her own enterprise, Sibongile got her first job in the Human Resources Dept. at Telkom and then went on to occupy various posts in City Power, NSA Securities and De Beers. When she decided the time was right, Sibongile took the plunge into aviation for keeps and this time, she wasn’t begging anyone to hire her as an air-hostess, no sir!
“Ironically when I got my letter of appointment from Telkom, SAA also sent me a letter of appointment to be part of their cabin crew. I then asked my grandmother which job must I take and she said ‘with these aero planes you will fall off the sky so please go and take the job of what you studied for’ so I took the job with Telkom.”
Sibongile touches on her passion for entrepreneurship and how it got ignited. “When government came up with BEE and encouraging us to start businesses that’s when I realized that I am more of an entrepreneur than a corporate person, and how I came to that conclusion is that I would come up with great ideas very quickly and I would get extremely frustrated when my boss would block my new ideas. I’d also get bored quickly with the work that was given to me in the office. I then searched my soul and asked what is it that I really like in business that I can start and aviation was an obvious choice for me.”
SRS [Sibongile Rejoice Sambo] Aviation was founded in 2004 with loans from Sibongile’s mother and aunt. Its mission statement is to offer clients professional and personalized flight options to destinations around the world. “I remember it was December 2004 when the government gave us our first order and I remember it was an order worth over a million rand to do a flight and we needed to have the money within a few days because they wanted the flight to happen immediately, I had no experience and no collateral for the amount of money that was needed so I couldn’t be helped. I had to think of an alternative way of funding this opportunity because I had already resigned from my last job. I had to call my mom who was working as a nurse in London, I needed R800k to bring an aero plane from Dubai to South Africa to come and commission this first flight for my client. My mom had to leave her job, come back home and cash in her pension money. My aunt who I grew up with also left her job and cashed in her pension money, my friends and family also chipped in, I had to sell most of my assets very quickly to fund this project.”
Unlike ordinary entrepreneurs Sibongile never saw starting the business as a risk even after using her mother and aunt’s pension money and also quitting her job, to many this would be the ultimate risk but she saw it as an opportunity mainly because she was indulged in the feeling of gratifying her childhood dream. “To be honest I never thought about losing, for me this was the beginning of a winning game. I didn’t think it through I was just fired up with passion of seeing this dream become a reality, and for me even that voice inside me that spiritual voice that says that you will make it; that is the voice that I listened to.”
Sibongile has endured a somewhat difficult time trying to break into a male dominated industry. It hasn’t been easy, it’s been a huge task but it’s been worth every sleepless night I’ve endured. The company is now well established and is a growing enterprise, with an annual turnover of R54 million. To me, that alone is an incredible achievement.”
Her awe inspiring journey to success has been characterized mainly by her mission and personal statement which goes as follows: “I know who I am. I can never forget where I come from. I know where I am going. To reach for my dreams and conquer the challenges; I will dare to be different; and with proper guidance and direction and with God on my side, nothing is impossible. I am indeed a future leader.”
“I would like to say to every young person male or female that is aspiring and in pursuit of something extraordinary: The sky is not even the limit, you can do it, and if you have a dream don’t let it die. Keep the spirit going, keep that dream alive do something about it, do not procrastinate, don’t sit back, don’t listen to those negative voices that will tell you that you can’t make it. If somebody tells you that you can’t do it, tell them that ‘I can and I will’. You can reach the skies you can reach your goals. Go for it! Chest out, stomach in and with a big smile go out and conquer.”
Follow Sibongile Sambo on www.sibongilesambo.co.za
Article by Musa “Skooterdatutor” Shimati
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