Security demand drives SA drone boom as SACAA counts up to 55,000 drones, growing 16% a year

The South African Civil Aviation Authority estimates 50,000 to 55,000 drones are currently in use in South Africa, with the fleet growing at about 16% per year, defenceWeb reported in March 2026.

South African drone market revenue for 2025 was projected at more than US$10.54 million, with one projection citing roughly 26% compound annual growth from 2023 to 2028. South Africa is the largest drone market in Africa.

Security and surveillance are among the strongest adoption areas: perimeter protection and sweeps, thermal detection, live monitoring of large terrain, and infrastructure inspection of bridges, pylons and substations.

A key trend is AI and onboard processing - many drones can now identify humans, vehicles or heat signatures without streaming raw footage to a control room, improving response speed and cutting bandwidth needs.

Regulators face pressure to modernise rules so beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations become safer and more accessible. "This places pressure on regulators to modernise rules so that advanced tasks such as beyond visual line of sight flying can become safer and more accessible," said Mark Anderson, Portfolio Director at Montgomery Group Africa. Drone-enabled security featured at Securex South Africa 2026, held 2-4 June at Gallagher Convention Centre.

Source: defenceWeb, 25 March 2026 - defenceweb.co.za