Meet our speaker

Mr. Josia Manyakoana is an accomplished aviation executive with extensive experience across air traffic and navigation services, airport operations, strategic planning, and operational leadership. His aviation career began in 1995 as an Air Traffic Controller in the South African Air Force. He joined ATNS in October 1997 as an air traffic controller and has since served across several air traffic service units in South Africa, progressively building deep operational and leadership expertise.

Throughout his career, Mr. Manyakoana has held a range of senior roles, including Human Factors Practitioner, Manager: Service Delivery Support, Senior Manager: Operations, and Acting Executive: Operations. He also served as Senior Operations Manager at Gateway Airport Authority Limited, the entity responsible for the Limpopo provincial airports network. He rejoined ATNS as Chief Operating Officer in June 2023, a position he has held until June 2026.

Mr. Manyakoana holds a Master of Aviation from the University of Western Sydney, Australia; an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Psychology from the University of South Africa; and a Baccalaureus Administration, with specialization in Aviation Management, from the University of Pretoria. He has also completed the Executive Leadership Development Program through UNISA School of Business Leadership and the Board Core Leadership Program through the Gordon Institute of Business Science.