Agriculture
With reference to his Department’s Drone Technology Expansion and Training Programme:
(a) How many people have graduated with their drone pilot’s licences since the inception of this programme, (b) of those who have graduated, how many (i) are employed in the agriculture sector, (ii) are not employed in the agriculture sector and (iii) have sought and found employment as drone operators, (c) how many people have enrolled in the training programme and (d) what are the planned intake number for the next intake?
(a) Since the inception of this initiative, 31 people received their Remote Pilot’s License (RPL). This was done in two groups of which the first consisted of officials, students and interns and the second group was exclusively officials. The first group (13 people) graduated on 25 November 2020 and the second group (18 people) on 5 May 2021.
(b) Of the successful candidates, 26 are officials in the Department, three were students at the Elsenburg College and two were interns (of which one was subsequently appointed by the Department). Although an evaluation of the use of their RPL will only be done in due course for all successful candidates, Departmental officials are using their skills in the context of deliverables at programme level.
(c) In the first group, fifteen people was accepted for training and 25 in the second group. Non-compliance with strict aviation medical requirements is the main reason why individuals could not complete the course.
(d) The third intake, consisting of farmers and agri workers, is currently in progress. A total of 29 applications were received of which 16 were accepted for training. This group is currently busy with their aviation medical tests. Theory training will commence on 30 November 2021 and the graduation ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 30 April 2022.
