Braam Botha, and his organization UAV Industries - were instrumental participants in the formulation of the new regulations. 

According to Botha, failure to adhere to these laws could result in a 10 year prison sentence or a R50 000 fine.

The announcement came a few months after the appearance of a drone at a park near the White House, in the United States.

Rather than drafting a new law, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would incorporate rules on flying drones into an existing act.

The regulations will be available to the public on the CAA website from 19 May 2015, SA CAA director Poppy Khoza said in Midrand on Sunday.

Most of the rules applied to operators flying drones for commercial purposes, but private drone owners would also be bound by some of the regulations.

The regulations do not apply to toy aircraft, which the CAA define as aircraft "designed or intended for use in play by children".

According to part 101 of the Civil Aviation Act, private drone owners:

   May not operate a drone in weather conditions in which view of the drone is obstructed.
   May not use a public road as a landing or take-off point for a drone.
   May not operate in controlled airspace.
   May not release, dispense, drop, deliver or deploy an object or substance from a drone.
   May not carry dangerous goods as cargo on a drone.

The new rules, which include but are not limited to the list above, will be formally added to the Civil Aviation Act in two months' time.

Elsewhere, the new regulations assert no drone shall:

   Fly next to, or above a nuclear power plant, prison, police station, crime scene, court of law, National Key Point or strategic installation.
   Be flown directly over any person or group of people within a lateral distance of 50 metres, excluding the operator of the drone.
   Be flown within a 50 metre lateral distance of any structure or building.
   Take off or land on a public road.
   Fly over or along a public road.  
   Perform aerial or acrobatic displays.
   Fly in a formation or swarm.

According to Khoza, it was “a momentous occasion in the local aviation industry; and to some extent the world.”
She said the regulations were the outcome of lengthy consultations with various role players, including the Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of Southern Africa (CAUSAA).
"The most important thing in all this is the development and preservation of a safe and secure aviation industry," said Khoza.
In the legislation, a drone was referred to as a Remotely Piloted Aircraft, or RPA. Khoza's colleague, Subash Devkaran of the CAA, explained there were “certain concessions within the regulations which allow a private operation to be conducted” without a RPA license.

"The way we undertook this project was with the aim of integrating all the RPA systems within the existing structure of the CAA," Devkaran told eNCA.com in a phone interview.

The CAA would process drone registrations and licence applications with existing staff, and they had sufficient resources to do so, he said.

As of 1 July 2015, private drone owners who complied with the rules "would be able to fly those drones for the first time but what they would not be able to do is conduct any commercial activity."

"Part 101 merely introduces liability to fly an RPA in specified locations," said Devkaran, who added private drones in cities were out of the question.

"A private person, someone living in a city, he certainly cannot fly in a city, because there are people in the city, there are cars," he said.

He cited the hypothetical example of a private person flying a drone over Sandton's CBD near Sandton Mall and said, "that is an offence."

If a private drone owner wanted to fly an RPA on a private piece of land it would be permissible, as long as the drown owner had the land owner's permission, and the drone was flown in a distance of 50 metres or more from other people.

 

Those flying drones in commercial, corporate and non-profit operations were bound by additional regulations not applicable to private owners.

They included registering each drone when purchased, writing exams, obtaining operating licences, and keeping logs of flights.

Commercial, corporate and non-profit drone users who did not comply, they would be liable for fines of up to R50,000 and up to 10 years in prison.

Details on the regulations would be detailed further during workshops held by the CAA and other stakeholders.

Aside from a recent drone appearance in a park near the White House, several other drone-related sightings have made headlines.

Ali Mohamed flew a drone to film University of Cape Town students gathered at a demonstration around the statue of Cecil John Rhodes on 10 April 2015.

In Switzerland, the post office began testing drone delivery of mail last month, while online shopping company Amazon began working with drones in 2013.

While drones may pose a security threat in some circumstances, they can also be deployed for good.

Drones have been used in rescue efforts following natural disasters, including the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

One team sent up a drone last week to search for a missing United States Marines Huey chopper.

In South Africa, according to Devkaran, any drone activity (whether public or private) preceding 1 July 2015 was unlawful.

"Any operation before the first of July 2015 would certainly be in contravention of the Act," he said.

--ENCA, NEWS 24--