Permits
Drone permits for filming in South Africa
A drone shot is never one permission. It is a chain: the aviation side, the land side and the municipal side, each with its own clock. This is how we run that chain, what we need from you, and what we cannot get approved at any price.
The permission chain
Six permissions sit behind a legal drone shot in South Africa. Some apply to every job, some only to certain locations. Missing one of them grounds the aircraft on the day, so we map all six before we quote a shoot.
- SACAA. Commercial drone work falls under Civil Aviation Regulations Part 101. The pilot holds a remote pilot licence, the flight runs under an operator certificate and its approved operations manual, and the operator holds an air services licence under the Air Services Licensing Act 115 of 1990. Each aircraft is registered and marked, and public liability insurance is in force. Reference: SACAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems.
- Landowner consent. Whoever owns or manages the ground under the flight has to say yes in writing. On private land that is a signed permission letter. On leased or managed property it is the managing company, not the City.
- Municipal film permit. Any filming that touches public property in Cape Town needs a permit from the City's Film Permit Office under the Filming By-law 2024, which commenced on 1 November 2025 and replaced the 2005 by-law.
- Airspace and aerodrome coordination. Part 101 caps flight at 400 ft above the surface and prohibits operation within a 10 km radius of an aerodrome reference point, or inside restricted or prohibited airspace, unless authorised. Controlled airspace is available only to an operator certificate holder, as approved in that operator's operations manual, and it carries the technical and coordination requirements in SA-CATS 101.05.3.
- Protected areas and national key points. National parks and provincial reserves are governed by their managing authority, not by the City. Part 101 also forbids flying adjacent to or above a nuclear power plant, prison, police station, crime scene, court of law, national key point or strategic installation.
- Harbour master. Anything inside a port boundary needs the harbour master's approval through Transnet National Ports Authority, in addition to the aviation clearance.
Lead times and documents by location type
The times below are the published minimums, counted in working days and counted from a complete application. An incomplete file does not start the clock. Where a figure is not published, we say so rather than guess.
| Location type | Authority | Lead time (working days) | Documents required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private land | Owner or managing agent. City permit as well if activity spills onto public space | No published minimum. We work to at least 3 to 4 for the aviation side | Signed landowner permission letter (we supply the template), pilot licence, operator certificate, insurance, aircraft registrations, flight plan |
| City of Cape Town public property | City of Cape Town Film Permit Office | 2 for micro and small, 5 for medium, 5 or more for large, 10 or more for very large. A shoot needing Civil Aviation Authority approvals moves up one tier, so a medium drone shoot runs on large timeframes | Film permit application, shoot type detail naming the drone, specialised risk insurance and blanket liability, community notification proof |
| City conservation or protected area | City of Cape Town Film Permit Office | 5 minimum even for a micro or small shoot | As above, plus the additional environmental requirements the City may impose |
| Table Mountain National Park | SANParks, TMNP permit office | 5 for stills, 6 for commercials, then invoice and payment before the permit issues | Filming and photography application, the RPAS drone annexure, an operator holding a current TMNP commercial permit, proof of payment |
| CapeNature reserve | CapeNature, applications processed through Permitz | Varies by reserve. | Annexure A application form, Annexure B drone paperwork list, written permission from reserve management |
| Controlled airspace (CTR or ATZ) | Air traffic services, coordinated through our operator certificate holder | Varies with the unit and the site. Treat as the long pole and flag it at first contact | Flight plan, airspace submission, transponder and altimeter fit per SA-CATS 101.05.3, live radio watch on the day |
| Within 10 km of an aerodrome | Aerodrome or airport manager, plus SACAA authorisation | Longer than a standard site. Never assume the standard window | Written authorisation from the airport manager, NOTAM, the aerodrome named on the RPAS insurance, flight plan and stop flying procedure |
| Port or harbour | Harbour Master, Transnet National Ports Authority | Varies, we confirm per shoot. | Port access application, aviation pack, flight plan, coordination with port operations |
Sequencing, and why the order matters
The production lodges the location permission first. We apply for the aviation side off the back of the approved location permission, because every authority asks for a reference that only the location application produces.
In practice that means the film permit booking number is the gating document. Until it exists, the drone application has nowhere to attach. On a compressed schedule this is the single most common reason a shot gets cut, and it is entirely avoidable.
What the production supplies
- The film permit booking number, and a copy of the approved permit once it lands.
- The signed landowner permission letter, on private land, returned to us on our template.
- Exact coordinates or a what3words pin for every flight site, not a location name. We build the flight plan off the pin.
- Shoot dates, call times and the window in which the drone actually flies.
- The SANParks or CapeNature location application, lodged by the production, with its reference number passed to us.
- Notice of any road closure, crowd, stunt or special effect near the flight path.
What Filmic supplies
- Remote pilot licence. Dimitri Vaindirlis has been licensed since 2017, with roughly 480 hours logged.
- The operator certificate and approved operations manual we fly under, held by our operator partner.
- Proof of RPAS public liability insurance.
- Aircraft registration certificates for every airframe on the call sheet.
- The landowner permission letter template for private land.
- Flight plans, airspace submissions and any NOTAM request, prepared per site.
- A site specific risk assessment and the stop flying procedure the crew will work to.
What cannot be approved
Some requests have no route. Saying so early is cheaper for everyone than a rejection two days out.
- The V and A Waterfront. Drone work is refused there. We do not lodge speculative applications.
- Several Table Mountain National Park precincts, including Boulders, Scarborough, Sandy Bay and Llandudno, and Perdekloof. Approval elsewhere in the park does not extend to these.
- Prisons, police stations, courts, crime scenes, national key points and strategic installations, under Part 101 itself.
- Flight directly over people, or within 50 m of people, structures or a public road, unless those people have consented and are under the control of the operator, or the road is closed.
- Night flying and beyond visual line of sight work, unless it is specifically approved in the operations manual in advance. Neither is a same week decision.
- Any date inside the statutory lead time. No authority backdates, and a shoot date is not an argument.
Where a location genuinely will not clear, we will usually have an alternative that reads the same on screen. That conversation is worth having in prep, not on the day.
Send us the locations early
Give us the sites, the dates and the shot, and we will come back with the permit route, the honest lead time and what we need from your side to start. If a location will not clear, you will hear it from us first.