Just happened across this thread, allow me to stand on a soapbox quickly 
hopefully I can answer some questions
I fly manned aircraft, and as a requirement, need to know the various laws and airspace's etc quite well, I also get very very angry when I see people flying drones close to aircraft, knowing the damage that can occur. FYI an Egyptian goose required Comair's 737-800 ZS-ZWB to have its vertical fin completely replaced by Boeing shortly after it was delivered; after a bird strike leaving OR Tambo, now can you imagine what a drone can do?
Saying that, however
In a nutshell, in SA we have 3 types of airfield airspace
1) CTR - large airports like OR Tambo, Lanseria, Cape Town Intl, Bloemfontein etc use this airspace, it is large, and controlled
2) ATZ - smaller airports like Rand Airport, Grand Central, Port Alfred, Upington etc - its still controlled, but the rules are slightly different
3) Unmanned Airfields - Vereeniging, Parys, Eagles Canyon (Diepsloot), Stellenbosch, Morningstar etc - these make up by far the largest amounts of airfields in SA
The people in charge of defining our airspace are called ATNS, they publish a KMZ file every month or so detailing FAR's (Restricted Airspace) FAP's (Prohibited Airspace) and show the boundaries of all controlled airspace - if in doubt, download it and take a look
For NOTAMs etc you can sign up for a free account on File2Fly - its significantly easier than the CAA website - usually just watching the news and keeping far away from high profile events is sufficient
I've attached a briefing from the website just for those who are curious, and the notification regarding the national parks
Now, regarding that 10km rule, it is most definitely unreasonable - just use common sense when flying your drone, don't fly it high, don't fly it right next to an airfield, and if you notice aircraft are flying a specific pattern (a circuit) or a final approach path - don't fly it near the aircraft under these circumstances - if we take the uncontrolled airfields into account, almost everywhere in GP is a no drone zone, hence why I say the 10km rule is absurd.
As already mentioned by others, don't fly in a national park or near a national keypoint, the cops love arresting people with expensive toys. never mind the penalties
As a general rule, don't fly anywhere in controlled airspace, especially CTR's - if you are caught, you will be in HUGE trouble, I almost klapped some hippie flying his drone at Mix Fest last weekend, right next to the extended center-line for Lanseria, and high enough to be a hazard to people in the circuit. It's because of people like that, that these laws are as harsh as they currently are.
If anyone has questions regarding airspaces or FAP's FAR's or whatever, feel free to ask
hopefully I can answer some questionsI fly manned aircraft, and as a requirement, need to know the various laws and airspace's etc quite well, I also get very very angry when I see people flying drones close to aircraft, knowing the damage that can occur. FYI an Egyptian goose required Comair's 737-800 ZS-ZWB to have its vertical fin completely replaced by Boeing shortly after it was delivered; after a bird strike leaving OR Tambo, now can you imagine what a drone can do?
Saying that, however
In a nutshell, in SA we have 3 types of airfield airspace
1) CTR - large airports like OR Tambo, Lanseria, Cape Town Intl, Bloemfontein etc use this airspace, it is large, and controlled
2) ATZ - smaller airports like Rand Airport, Grand Central, Port Alfred, Upington etc - its still controlled, but the rules are slightly different
3) Unmanned Airfields - Vereeniging, Parys, Eagles Canyon (Diepsloot), Stellenbosch, Morningstar etc - these make up by far the largest amounts of airfields in SA
The people in charge of defining our airspace are called ATNS, they publish a KMZ file every month or so detailing FAR's (Restricted Airspace) FAP's (Prohibited Airspace) and show the boundaries of all controlled airspace - if in doubt, download it and take a look
For NOTAMs etc you can sign up for a free account on File2Fly - its significantly easier than the CAA website - usually just watching the news and keeping far away from high profile events is sufficient
I've attached a briefing from the website just for those who are curious, and the notification regarding the national parks
Now, regarding that 10km rule, it is most definitely unreasonable - just use common sense when flying your drone, don't fly it high, don't fly it right next to an airfield, and if you notice aircraft are flying a specific pattern (a circuit) or a final approach path - don't fly it near the aircraft under these circumstances - if we take the uncontrolled airfields into account, almost everywhere in GP is a no drone zone, hence why I say the 10km rule is absurd.
As already mentioned by others, don't fly in a national park or near a national keypoint, the cops love arresting people with expensive toys. never mind the penalties
As a general rule, don't fly anywhere in controlled airspace, especially CTR's - if you are caught, you will be in HUGE trouble, I almost klapped some hippie flying his drone at Mix Fest last weekend, right next to the extended center-line for Lanseria, and high enough to be a hazard to people in the circuit. It's because of people like that, that these laws are as harsh as they currently are.
If anyone has questions regarding airspaces or FAP's FAR's or whatever, feel free to ask
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