UPDATED 08 January 2008.  At the All Africa in December 2007, I met up with Cyril Mazibuko, South Africa's only qualified black paraglider pilot.  Like many people, I first read about his story in September 2007 when Conner McCreery  wrote an article about Cyril's determination to fly - even if it meant with fertilizer bags sewn together with string and wire.

I asked Cyril many questions.  I wanted to know why he flew, what he felt flying, what were his expectations and who helps him realise his dreams.  He gave me an update yesterday.

The second episode of Cyril Mazibuko - Paraglider Pilot.

After a long break from flying, I didn't believe that I will be able to fly again.  I never lost my feeling of flying.  I stopped flying, but I never stopped flying in my mind.  I always hoped that one day, the day will come and I will be again flying.  Indeed the day did come.  Joe (Chananie) got me back into flying.  He is the main man and I would love to thank him.

Why do I fly paragliders?

I love flying.  It is a wonderful sport and I do it as a job for me.  It's a testing ground for me.  It doesn't pay, I know, but I want to see how well I can do in this sport.  How far it can take me.  Of course I need money to do well, since it is an expensive sport.

I fly because I know one can be successful.  One can make a living out of it.  To overcome povert. To improve my lifestyle.  To bring meaning to flying with my own black people since they believe that it is a white mans sport and expensive.  I want my own country to improve and realise the importance of sports.

Soccer is not the only sport black people can do.  I look at rugby these days and it is so nice to see people of colour doing well.  If they didn't try it they wouldn't have realised their talents.

I fly paragliders.  I am not talented, but I know I can do well if I get support from those who help me and I will want to fly more and more.  It is in competitions that I will get experience and improve my flying and hopefully I will one day make the SA Team - which would be good for the country.

My flying has improved a lot since I started again to fly.  This year I entered my first two competitions and I am working as an Assistant Instructor in Johannesburg for Funventures Paragliding School.   I learn a lot in this way.  I gain experience and skills working with Laura on different gliders, fixing them and repacking reserves chutes for paragliders, sailplanes and hang gliders.  Laura is the one who organised everything for me, getting me sponsors and training me to become an instructor.  I am still working on my papers but hopefully soon I will become the first black instructor in South Africa.  My dreams are slowly but surely coming true, thanks to Laura.

Peter Wallenda of Wallend-Air has been there for me since I was a kid.  He taught me from scratch about the glider and it is thanks to Peter that I can fix gliders today.  I never forgot what he taught me when I was a kid. Peter gave me all these wonderful things from Swing so I could fly again - a glider, harness and helmet.  When my equipment was stolen at the Bedford competition (2007) and burnt, Peter again gave me another glider so I could keep flying.  Without him, I would be struggling to get another wing. Peter - you are appreciated!
(Wings also known as 'gliders are approximately R20 000 new, R8 000 second hand.  It is a big investment)  

One of my dreams is to train and develop a black paragliding team which will fly all around the country and enter competitions.  I want to help this aviation by helping more black people to fly.  By doing this, I believe the sport will grow bigger.  I once believed that black people were afraid to fly, but later I realised that it is not that. It is just that the sport was not introduced to them.  Since they have seen me fly, they are interested in coming and trying it out to see if it's for them or not.  I believe that there are many potential black pilots out there but they don't know anything about this wonderful sport.

My dreams of flying are big, I just need to work on my skills and get more experience in competitions and for this I need financial help.  I don't fly for money, but I want to see how good, how far and how well a black man can do in paragliding and for this I need sponsorship.

I would like to thank Lauwrence Chambers and Bradley Mundell and the QUMO Group of Companies for making my dreams come true.  For making it possible for me to participate in competitions in South Africa this year - they pay for my entry fees, accommodation and for my trips. They also gave me a vario and GPS.  Without them I wouldn't be anywhere.  Thank you so much.  Hopefully I will do much better for the company someday.

Thanks to these people for Equipment:
Jan and Khobi from Cloudbase Paragliding for a radio and flightsuit to replace those stolen and burned in Bedford
Toby Gibson from Flying Unlimited for a flightsuit (burned in Bedfrod)
John Nicholas of Bambi for a Reserve chute (stolen and burned in Bedford)
Kevin Story of Blue Gravity for a cockpit

Also thanks to previous suppporters:
JJ Bass who had the guts to teach me to fly when I could not even speak english.
Douglas Soby who would bring a glider to the Drakensburg for me and take me flying with him
Chris Davies for my first tandem flight when I was 12 years old
Pierre Carter for taking the time to teach me things.  You are the pilot I most want to fly like
Hans Fokkens of Wildsky for teaching me a lot about flying and helping with my schooling
Minolta Company for my first glider when I first started to fly in the Drakensburg
My mother and my girlfriend Thandeka for their encouragemnet

Cyril Mazibuko 

Thoughts from Flygirl:

I worry that Cyril's expectation of getting into the SA Team will make him dispondent as time goes by.  Flying for the SA Team requires a huge amount of talent, experience, dedication, training and money.  Although I don't doubt his dedication it is too early to tell if he has the talent and it will be years before he has the experience.  Cyril is the first of our black people to embrace our sport of paragliding.  He is the First.......

Cyril needs training - competition training and he needs money to get to those competitions.  If he does it the hard way, the minimum financial sponsorship for an international competition will be R30 000.  More available finances means he gets a Retrieve Driver and a hired car and a Coach. He needs to go with other pilots who can guide him, mentor him.  Sending him out on his own in the beginning will not help him.  It is too overwhelming and we have too few competitions in South Africa for him to gain adequate experience quickly enough for his ambitions. Cyril is a sponge.  He is thirsty for success.  

Should I recommend he stop dreaming?  That he will never make it?

But then I read these words from the man who once gave us hope for a new South Africa:

"The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams."
Our Beloved Leader - Nelson Mandela

I have no right to squash Cyril's dreams.  Dreams got Cyril this far against odds few of us can imagine.

The question is: Will he get the continued support he needs from his fellow South African's to get him to the next level? Everyone's contribution big and small, makes a difference to Cyril and helps one person to realise his dreams and in doing so, helps others to realise their own.

Keep a lookout  for Episode 3 - Cyril Mazibuko - Competition Pilot.