{"id":625138,"date":"2026-01-16T14:06:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=625138"},"modified":"2026-01-16T14:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:09:08","slug":"the-south-african-woman-who-was-too-short-to-be-a-flight-attendant-and-started-her-own-airline-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/telecoms\/625138-the-south-african-woman-who-was-too-short-to-be-a-flight-attendant-and-started-her-own-airline-instead.html","title":{"rendered":"The South African woman who was too short to be a flight attendant and started her own airline instead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sibongile Rejoyce Sambo is the founder and owner of SRS Aviation, a luxury private charter airline, and the first black-owned aviation company to earn an air operating certificate in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) describes Sambo as a competent, committed, and very experienced senior executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is also highly regarded for her comprehensive knowledge and understanding of various industries and sectors, including aerospace, mining, telecommunications, and manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sambo was born in the town of Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, in 1974 and became interested in aircraft while watching planes and helicopters fly overhead as a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After school, she applied to South African Airways to become a flight attendant but was rejected because she did not meet the minimum height requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major commercial airlines apply height standards to ensure that attendants can reach overhead compartments and oxygen masks without assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minimum height requirement may vary from one airline to another, but it is typically 1.55 to 1.6 metres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While SAA’s rejection would be a setback, it would ultimately take Sambo on an even more ambitious journey in the aviation industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sambo completed a Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (then called the College of Zululand) in 1997.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her first job out of university was as a Human Resources performance consultant at Telkom in late 1998 and 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2000, she joined Johannesburg’s City Power as recruitment manager, where she also worked for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a stint as HR change manager at De Beers Consolidated Mines, she completed a postgraduate diploma in general management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leveraging her expertise in business and leadership, and money lent to her by her mother and aunt, she founded SRS Aviation in 2004, initially as an aviation services brokerage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2006, the company had earned an Air Operating Certificate from the South African Civil Aviation Authority, a first for a black-owned aviation company in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sambo in front of one of SRS Aviation’s chartered planes during an interview with CNN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Obtaining the certificate required passing an evaluation that confirmed SRS Aviation’s aircraft were safe and airworthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company’s first big deal was a cargo transport contract with the South African government, which it ran in collaboration with a competing bidder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That paved the way for an expansion into private charters for VIPs, heads of state, celebrities, sporting teams, and peace-keeping missions across Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2009, she established fuel company SRS Petroleum, which she led until 2018. She secured a petroleum wholesale licence from the South African government in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While she still owns SRS Aviation, she stepped down as managing director to take up the same position at Centurion-based Aero Metals in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is a dual-source manufacturer and supplier of aerospace parts and components established by Dynamic Aerotech and Aerosud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sambo has been a board member of the Commercial Aerospace Manufacturing Association of South Africa (Camsa) since 2019 and a non-executive director of Acsa’s board since 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has won numerous awards for her achievements, including being named a “Leader of Tomorrow” by Fortune Magazine and receiving the Distinguished Female Business Leader of the Year Award in Dubai in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has furthered her education by obtaining her Master’s in Business Administration at GIBS Business School in 2002 and is currently enrolled in Rollins College’s International Executive Development Programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her free time, Sambo is an avid cyclist and traveller. Her career has put her in the company of many legendary personalities, including former President Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Youmewe podcast interview<\/a>, Sambo advised aspiring entrepreneurs to go into business with an open mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Know you can have a very good business idea, but be prepared that sometimes the environment will not allow you to achieve it,” she said. “Be flexible. Think out of the box.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also believes a good attitude goes a long way. “You will meet people who will try to run you down,” she told Lionesses of Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You will have cases where you will want to lose your temper. Always having a good attitude will help grow with your business.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos from Sibongile Sambo’s career and life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
In the cockpit of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Hand-in-hand with former president Nelson Mandela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Getting her MBA from GIBS in 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
In front of one of SRS Aviation’s chartered helicopters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sambo during one of the many cycle racing events she enjoys. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Speaking with mineral resource minister Gwede Mantashe at Enlit Africa 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
A moment with DJ Naked<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sambo and musician Nasty C<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
A quick pic with Springbok Lukhanyo Am<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sibongile Rejoyce Sambo went from hoping to have a job serving passengers on commercial airliners to owning a company that flies VIPs, celebrities, sports stars, and heads of state in luxury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":625145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366,3],"tags":[57910,61785,25893,27949,102876,10216,47722,52867,90945,102874,102875,102877,109],"class_list":["post-625138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","category-telecoms","tag-aeroplanes","tag-airlines","tag-airports-company-south-africa-acsa","tag-aviation","tag-bushbuckridge","tag-city-power","tag-de-beers","tag-mpumalanga","tag-planes","tag-sibongile-sambo","tag-srs-aviation","tag-srs-petroleum","tag-telkom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625138"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625138"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":625210,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625138\/revisions\/625210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}