A flight school linked to South African start-up Flyfofa Airways (FOF, Pretoria Wonderboom) faces scrutiny after the country's National Skills Fund alleged it overstated student flying hours under a ZAR148 million rand (USD9 million) government-funded training scheme.
AmaBhungane, a South African independent investigative news site, reported that the fund found discrepancies between the flying hours claimed by Flyfofa Aviation Training for its pilot hour-building programme and those recorded in students' logbooks, resulting in an alleged overclaim of nearly ZAR3.9 million (USD238,000).
The training school allegedly also paid nearly ZAR13 million (USD794,000) to two companies controlled by director Jacobeth Manthokwa Fisha and her husband Thabo Fisha.
South Africa's company register shows that Jacobeth Fisha remains the director of Flyfofa Airways, which is linked to six affiliated companies, including the flight school, an AMO, security services, and a petroleum firm.
Flyfofa Airways was first flagged in a 2021 report by South Africa's Special Investigating Unit, which probes corruption, fraud, and maladministration in state institutions. Investigators had found irregular procurement worth ZAR172.2 million (USD10.5 million) between Flyfofa Airways and South African Airways in 2016 regarding charters with second-hand freighters. Flyfofa denied the allegations. The case remains before the SIU's Special Tribunal.
Founded in 2013, Flyfofa Airways held a scheduled licence for passenger and cargo operations from Johannesburg O.R. Tambo, Durban King Shaka, and Cape Town International using Beech (twin turboprop) King Airs, but never started scheduled operations.
In 2023, South Africa's Ministry of Transport withdrew the start-up's regional route rights and frequencies.
