by TINTSWALO BALOYI
PRETORIA, (CAJ News) – SOUTH Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, has called for transformation to remain central to the development of the country’s aerospace and defence industries, saying greater opportunities must be created for small and medium enterprises and black industrialists.
Tau was speaking at the 20-year commemoration of the Aerospace Industry Support Initiative (AISI), held at the Waterkloof Air Force Base in Pretoria as part of the 2026 Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) exhibition.
Established by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), AISI is aimed at strengthening the competitiveness, sustainability and growth of South Africa’s aerospace and defence industry through capability building, research, design and innovation.
The initiative is supported and managed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
The dtic funded AISI-supported companies to showcase their products, technologies, capabilities and innovations at AAD 2026.
Over the past decade, AISI has supported 142 small and medium enterprises, helped create and sustain more than 1 236 jobs, enabled the development of 148 new technologies and products, and assisted companies in securing 49 international certifications and standards.
Tau said preserving sovereign industrial capability, advancing dual-use technologies and retaining and upskilling critical technical skills were essential to South Africa’s national security and long-term competitiveness.
“Transformation matters here more than in most sectors, precisely because aerospace and defence have always been among the hardest industries to enter. Capital intensity, certification requirements and decades of concentrated ownership have kept these industries largely closed to black entrepreneurs and emerging enterprises. If we do not deliberately open that door, the next 20 years will simply repeat the exclusions of the last,” he said.
Tau said AISI-funded firms were currently required to hold at least Level 4 B-BBEE status, while the initiative was deliberately building a pipeline of black industrialists, innovators and technology companies capable of competing in local and international markets.
The minister’s remarks come as South Africa seeks to strengthen domestic industrial capabilities while creating opportunities for emerging enterprises to participate in sophisticated technology-driven sectors.
The AISI programme’s two-decade milestone provides an opportunity to highlight the contribution of smaller enterprises to the country’s aerospace and defence ecosystem, particularly through technology development, innovation, skills and access to international markets.
– CAJ News