ALPA Crew
Sonia Ferreira: General Manager
alpapr@iafrica.com
Emergency number: 082 826 5007
Jacques Lemmer: Industrial Relations Practitioner
alpaind@iafrica.com
Emergency number: 082 555 5248
Anita Pieterse: Administrator
alpasa@mweb.co.za
Sharon Vorster: Finance Officer
alpaac@mweb.co.za
Antionette Keyser: Receptionist
alpasa@iafrica.com
Gavin Durr: Vice President
072 546 5280
Gavin joined Air Force in July 1986 as a cadet pilot completing his wings course in July 1988. He served at 41 Squadron until Jul 1989 where he began his SAAF instructors courseAfter qualifying as an instructor, Gavin went on to give instruction at CFS Dunnottar until such time that the flying school was moved down to Langebaan., after which he transferred to 41 Squadron as an instructor for a short period before moving to Bloemfontein for a multi-engine conversion on DC3's
In 1994 Gavin took over as Chief Instructor at 86MEFS and gave instruction on the DC3, DC3-TP, Casa212 and Casa235. He served the last year in the SAAF at 41 Squadron as Training Officer on the Kin Air 200/300 Cessna 208 aircraft.
In 1996 Gavin applied to SAA, left the Air Force and did some charter work at Execujet on their King Air 200 series a/c and in July 1997 joined SAA as an in-flight relief pilot on the classic B747. At the same time he continued to give instruction at 41 and 44 Sqn on the various aircraft employed there.
In 1999 Gavin was given a B737 conversion and a year later a B737-800 conversion after which he was transferred to the Cape fleet. It was during this time that Gavin completed his honours degree with UNISA focussing on Financial.
His B747-400 conversion which he flew for two years and then completed the A340 conversion..As the 400's were still flying Gavin was recalled to the fleet until recently when he reactivated on the A340 aircraft which he currently flies.
Margaret Viljoen: Elected Member and CIRP Representative
082 801 6571
Margaret matriculated from Sandringham High School in 1984, and in 1987 started work as a charter co-ordinator for National Airways Corporation. It was during this time that she decided that she would rather be flying, and in January 1988 she started her PPL at the East Rand Flying Club in Springs.
She passed her PPL test in June 1989, and passed the Commercial Licence theory exams in October 1989. In December 1989 South African Airways advertised for candidates for their very first Cadet Pilot Training scheme. Margaret applied, and was one of 10 successful candidates. She completed her CPL training with SAA in September 1990, and was then offered her first job flying King Air 200s for National Airlines on their scheduled services, eventually moving over to the charter section of National Airways to fly Barons and King Air 200s.
In March 1996 Margaret joined Comair as a First Officer on ATR42s, moving over to the right hand seat of the Boeing 727-200 in September 1997. In March 2000, Margaret was offered her Command on Boeing 727s. The B727s were retired from service in 2003, and she moved over to the Boeing 737 fleet. At much the same time, Margaret was appointed as a Check Captain for Comair.
During this time Margaret served on the Committee of the Comair Pilots’ Association, becoming Chairman of the association in August 2004. Margaret was also awarded the first FEDUSA Woman of the Year award in 2003. In early 2006, a seat on the National Executive Committee of ALPA-SA became vacant, and Margaret was elected to the position, ending her term as Chairman of the CPA.
She is actively involved in bringing the CIRP programme offered by ALPA-SA up to date, and also is providing oversight for ALPA-SA on the National Unmannded Aerial Systems Policy Co-ordination Committee.
Carl Bollweg: Huper Committee Chairman and Vice President IFALPA AFI South
083 260 7521
Carl qualified for his SAAF wings in 1983. He postings included 42 Squadron, CFS Dunnottor, 84 LAFS, 81 LAFS and 41 Squadron. In 1984 he joined Comair where he flew the F27, ATR4...2 and the B737-200. In 2000 he moved to SAA where he currently serves as a First Officer on the A340.
He is the chairman of the Human Performance (Huper) Committee for ALPA-SA and works closely with IFALPA where he serves as the Regional Vice President of the AFI South Region.
Garth McJarrow: Elected Member
083 412 9147
Garth started out as an aircraft avionics technician and later studied electrical engineering with several years in aircraft maintenance as well as flight simulation.
Garth has had the privilege of flying most of the wide bodied Airbus and Boeing's as well as their smaller versions and at the end of it all he concludes that both have their merits.
Garth has been involved in the Mentor Facilitator Program at SAA for the past seven years and continues to be an asset to ALPA-SA.
Wendy Santilhano: Elected Member
082 496 8728
I believe that life is a journey and presents us with the most amazing opportunities for discovery and growth.
In high school I decided that I wanted to learn to fly. I did not manage to do so for many years. After school I studied psychology and statistics at UCT. Over many years I have pondered how to integrate two of my passions: working with people, and, flying.
After my undergraduate degree I worked at UCT doing student advising with the students in university bridging programmes. From there I moved to the University of the Western Cape where I implemented a campus-wide student financial aid project.
In 1994, I left to study a Master’s in Intercultural Management in the USA. Aside from South Africa in general, this became a time of personal transition. I realized that it was important for me to ‘live without regret’…this paradigm became the catalyst to following my dream. I found a flight school in San Diego and began to learn to fly. Completing my degree led me to do an internship in the CRM section of North West Airline’s Flight Operations, and 2 wonderful years in Minneapolis.
In 1998 I returned to South Africa with my FAA Commercial license. In 2000 I got a job as a charter pilot at Rossair. Currently I fly as a first officer on A319s for SAA.
While flying charter, I study various counseling and psychology courses.
In 2009 I studied Personal Life Coaching. Currently am practicing as a coach and working towards my accreditation. My field of focus and interest is Coaching Pilots, to explore the role and relevancy of coaching for flight crews. I hope to pursue this avenue in further graduate studies.
Presently, I am spearheading the implementation of ALPA’s Wellbeing portfolio to establish structures to address the mental and emotional issues that confront pilots.
In my spare time - I dance.
Fatima Jakoet: Elected Member
083 786 6966
Fatima Jakoet is currently a Senior First Officer at South African Airways. Her career in aviation started in 2001 when she was selected on the South African Airways Cadet Pilot Programme. In 2002, as part of her internship she joined Airlink as co-pilot on the Jetstream 41 until May 2005 when she was appointed at South African Airways.
She is also a graduate MBA (2009) from the University of Stellenbosch and holds both a National Diploma in Analytical Chemistry and BTech Chemistry from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. Prior to joining the world of aviation Fatima was on both the National Health Laboratories and SAPS Forensic Teams as specialist in toxicology and narcotics respectively. Fatima is the Founder of the Sakhikamva Foundation an aviation awareness and skills development organisation established in 2010.
Duncan Githiri: Elected Member
083 515 1911
Duncan matriculated from Christian Brother College SA in 1996 and started his flying career at Rossair Contracts. He worked at Solenta Aviation and at SA Airlink. Duncan is currently working at SA Airways and serves as elected member on the ALPA-SA Executive Committee and the SAAPA Executive Committee.
Duncan is a rugby enthusiast who played for the Under 21, Gauteng Lions team
John Harty: SAAPA Chairman
082 469 9996
Andries Theron : CPA Chairman
083 400 0422
Andries Theron was born and raised in Bloemfontein. He matriculated from Grey College in 1992 and immediately pursued a flying career. He joined Comair in 2005 where he is currently a Captain on the Boeing 737 300, 400 and 800’s.
Marius Santos: Legal Director
083 273 3312
Passionate about his flying career Marius Santos was posted to 41 Squadron,flying Kudu’s in 1982 and in 1984 he went to 44 Squadron, flying DC3 Dakotas. In 1986 he went to 35 Maritime Squadron flying maritime Dakotas.
After 10 years in the SAAF Marius joined SAA in 1990 on the B747 Classic as 2nd Officer until 1991 when he became a First Officer on B737-200. In 1995 Marius became a Senior First Officer (SFO) on B767-200 and got his command on B737-200 in 2003. Marius is currently a Captain on the B737-800 and the Legal Director for ALPA-SA. He obtained his B Proc degree from UNISA in 1988
Chris Booysen: Training Director
083 407 9386
Chris started his flying career in the South African Air Force in 1981 where he mainly flew maritime patrol, based in Cape Town. He left the SAAF as a major after 12 years of service to join Comair in 1993 as First Officer on the Fokker F27. He also flew Comair’s first jet, the F28 before converting to the Boeing B737.
Chris served Comair in various positions over the past 18 years and is presently the Chief Training Captain of the B737-800 fleet.
David Naude: Admin and Finance Director
082 263 3435
David possesses a Diploma certificate in electronics and is currently studying a Degree in Financial planning/management through University of Stellenbosch. David spent 1 year in Air force, national service AFB Hoedspruit and AFB Waterkloof.
From an early age David wanted to be an airline pilot. All of his work experience was geared in the general direction of aviation. He started at an air freight forwarding agency in various flight operations departments as a dispatcher and manager before going on to Fly as a loadmaster on a domestic freighter. David then worked for Lufthansa Airlines
from Johannesburg International Airport getting his IATA dispatchers licence working on Boeing 747-400, Boeing 757, Airbus A340, MD-11 freighters.
David started work at Airlink as a flight ops dispatcher and then flew the Dornier 228
before moving across to the Jetstream 41 as an f/o and later as a captain. He then moved over as a direct entry captain on the Embraer 135 which is the position presently held.
Natie Kroukam: Industrial Director
082 378 1082
Mike Rabec
Mike’s flying career started in 1981 as charter pilot with Rossair, later an Instructor at the Durban Wings Club, and then charter pilot at Executive Aerospace. He joined SAA in 1987, and has flown the B732, B738, B747, A300, A320 and A340. Mike was the Fleet Captain B732 in 2001/2 and is presently a Training Captain on the A340.
He has served on the SAAPA ExCo as Vice Chairman and member of the SAAPA negotiating team.