In-Sourcing of the Recreational Aviation Administration of South Africa (RAASA) into the SACAA​

In 2008 the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) designated the oversight of recreational aviation to the Recreation Aviation Administration of South Africa (RAASA) in response to a need for the Regulator to strengthen safety and security oversight in this sector of the industry.  Before this time, the SACAA had delegated these functions to the Aero Club of South Africa, and due to the gaps that existed in this designation model at the time, the Regulator sought a more progressive structure that would ensure optimum oversight of the activities in this sector of the civil aviation industry.

RAASA was therefore registered as a non-profit company in 2008, and designated to provide oversight of recreational aviation until 31 March 2019.

With effect from 1 April 2019, the recreational aviation functions will be integrated into the SACAA and the following changes will apply:

Recreation Aviation Service Bouquet

All the services currently being offered by RAASA will be offered in totality by the SACAA under a new department, named General Aviation. These services will be offered at the current RAASA offices at Rand Airport.

Premises

The current RAASA premises will continue to be used until the SACAA moves to the new SACAA Head Office. The RAASA offices at Rand Airport will therefore remain operational until further notice.

RAASA Staff Movements

On 01 April 2019 all current RAASA employees will officially be SACAA employees.  All the staff members will remain at the current RAASA offices at Rand Airport until the Regulator moves to the new premises at OR Tambo in the near future. Only one staff member, who is joining the Legal and Aviation Compliance division, will move to the SACAA offices in Midrand as of 01 April 2019.

Communications Tools

Emails

All RAASA employees will be contactable on their current RAASA email addresses.  Their new SACAA email addresses are being introduced gradually, to avoid any confusion. 

Telephone Numbers

The old telephone numbers will continue to be operational, except for the one staff member who is moving to the SACAA premises from 01 April 2019.

Website

The old RAASA website will continue to be available for a period of 6 months. From 01 October 2019, all recreational aviation information will be available on the SACAA website on www.caa.co.za. 

Structural Placement of Recreational Aviation within the SACAA business

The bulk of the RAASA functions will be placed under the Aviation Safety Operations division as from 01 April 2019.  The new name of this department is General Aviation.

Forms and other official documentation

With effect from 01 April 2019, all applications for licences, permits and approvals will be done on official SACAA branded stationery that will be available on the current RAASA website.  All official communications will be done by using the official SACAA letterhead.

Banking Details

From 01 April 2019 all EFT payments for recreational aviation services must be paid into the following account:

Account Name: South African Civil Aviation Authority
Standard Bank, Brooklyn
Branch Code:  051001
Account number: 0013007971

Reference: "OTHERRAASA" followed by licence number, or name, or invoice number, or other identification number.  (You will be limited to 17 additional characters.)

There is a deposit reference validation that is performed at Standard Bank branches and for Standard Bank Internet banking, and if the deposit reference does not start with the characters "OTHERRAASA" the transaction might be rejected by the system.

Proof of payment has to accompany applications. The proof of payment must be sent to financedepartment@caa.co.za.  All current RAASA clients' payment queries will be handled by Ms Natasha Steyn and her email address is Steynn@caa.co.za.

Conclusion

Any further queries related to this transition can be directed to the Client Service office, using the following email address: updates@caa.co.za or direct queries can be directed to Ms Lerato Molefe at 011 545 1345.  The normal RAASA contact details, also available on the current RAASA website, can be used for any recreational aviation queries.