The Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, today hosted disadvantaged children from the Bramley Children’s Home at the Wonderboom Aviation Play Park, the first ever play park in Africa.
During the launch, the Mayor hosted “Christmas in July” for orphans and children from poor and disadvantaged communities around Tshwane, where they were treated to a once in a lifetime experience of flying in an aircraft with the Mayor.
This play park is not yet opened to all children of Tshwane yet, it was opened only today as further renovations still need to take place. The play park will be opened to all the children of Tshwane in due course.
The park will stimulate learning about aviation for children and will be the first step in creating awareness in the aviation space as a viable career path for young kids to aspire to enter . The play park will introduce fun activities in collaboration with tenants and the airport’s stakeholders.
It is envisaged that the aviation play park will be utilised to derive income for the Wonderboom National Airport through entrance fees for the general public in future.
During the State of the Capital Address, Mayor Msimanga noted Wonderbom National Airport as one of the City’s most important strategic assets noting that, “the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality has identified the Wonderboom Airport as one of the Municipality’s most important strategic assets.
The city is now completing a comprehensive development programme aimed at maximising the value of this asset to the capital city of South Africa.
The new identity is part of a plan to expand the use of Wonderboom Airport, to facilitate tourism and to grow the City’s economy. Wonderboom is the only City-owned commercial airport in South Africa presenting a unique opportunity to Tshwane to create a new hub of tourist and commercial activity.
For 2017, the aviation play park will be utilised to accommodate children from disadvantaged schools on an appointment basis only. From 2018 the park will be managed in collaboration with the Big Sky Cabin Training Academy which operates from the same premises. Students from this academy will be instrumental in educating the children at the park as part of their training.
The Wonderboom National Airport together with its tenants and partners will also introduce youth development programme to collectively contribute to the empowerment of Tshwane’s youth with much needed skills through skills programmes, with the help of available funding and sponsorships.
The envisaged programme will lead to higher labour absorption and will be instrumental in building strong partnerships and strategic alliances with key stakeholders and role players, such as businesses and civil society. The proposed programme will focus on the holistic development of young people in Tshwane and is a direct response to the high prevalence of youth unemployment.
“I strongly believe that this youth development programme will help to address skills gaps in the aviation industry and provide the opportunity for Wonderboom National Airport to give back in a tangible way to the communities that contributed to 80 years of successful operations.” said Mayor Msimanga.
The knowledge transfer and skills development programme will be tested through a pilot project where a total of six female trainees will be put through a 6-8 week course (flight attendees), utilising training academies currently located at Wonderboom National Airport.
Below is a table with a bird’s eye view on the proposed programme:
ACTION TIMELINE ACTIVITIES TARGET AUDIENCE
Executive Mayor to host Children of Bramley Children’s Home at aviation play park:
Wonderboom Swallows July 2017
*Play and learn in aircrafts which have been transformed and made safe
*Talks on gravity, propulsion, altitudes, attitudes, safety, etc.
*Paper aircraft competitions, build an aircraft with empty plastic bottles, aviation-related activities
*Align with Nelson Mandela outreach
Younger children from disadvantaged communities
Orphans
Christmas in July at Wonderboom July annually around Mandela Day *Flight in aircraft over area
*Santa and gifts
*Food and drinks
*Demonstration of fire brigade
*Fun in “bubbles” (foam)
*Activities with aviation theme Orphans and children from poor and disadvantaged communities
Colouring book July 2017 *Little aircraft character and his journeys with his friends, the ambulance and fire brigade
*Story-line about aviation
*Inclusion of tourism attractions in area
*Include history of the airport
*Include aviation themes and words Pre-schoolers during visits to airport
Visits to airport Ad-hoc and on request *Colouring book
*Aviation themed activities
*Playtime at the play park
*Movies about aviation
*Talks about aviation themes Pre-schoolers
Field trips On invitation *School groups at airport
*Visit hangars
^Talks on aviation
*Competition that is aviation related
*Drone demonstrations Grades 8 & 9
Joint career day Annually *Align with Adrenaline show
*Exhibitions on careers
*Talks on different career opportunities
*Visits to training schools
*Talks on drug awareness with Metro Police and SAP
Grades 10-12
Support career days of tenants As scheduled *Groups of school children visit tenants
*Work with tenants on program Grades 10-12
Joint events with others On invitation *Participate in career days of other organisations
*Exhibitions
*Joint event with training schools DIRCO, others
Flight academies at schools and/or Classroom in the Sky On invitation *Work with existing flight schools
*Establish new flight schools in other schools as joint venture with tenants
*Extra curriculum after schools hours
*Flight camps to educate learners and basic training in soft skills, discipline and
*Focus on Mathematics, English, Geography, Science
*Involve aviation organisations
*Run competitions to select potential candidate for training in aviation at large
*Competition on aviation related activities: drone flights, build an aeroplane/robot, etc
*Talks on drug abuse
Grade 9-12
