A request to remove his sunglasses for a photograph at last weekend’s cross-country event at the Port Alfred Country Club got Sticks Stiglingh giving a fascinating lesson on the Alpha Bravo Charlie of pilots’ eyewear and the history of this pair in particular.
Stiglingh is well known in Port Alfred and beyond on several fronts. The president of EP Athletics is an accomplished and dedicated runner, who served as chairperson of Kowie Striders for many years and together with Lungi Matsatse founded the club’s development programme in 2016. That programme has encouraged the talent of dozens of local athletes. Most recently in the spotlight has been Thandolwethu Matsalo, a product of that programme who will be competing in the SA cross country championships next month.
On the professional front, Stiglingh is a former Director of Operations at 43 Air School, having started there in 2008 as Director of Training.
Before that, he headed the management services at Lanseria Airport, including HR, flight and ground safety, training and development and jet pilot instruction.
Talk of the Town’s readers will recall Stiglingh’s monthly finance column: a qualified financial analyst and investment specialist he opened his Port Alfred office as a Financial Adviser affiliated with Sanlam in 2012.
But back to those glasses.
Stiglingh is a retired Major of the South African Airforce. For 22 years (until 1996), he served as pilot, instructor, aviation safety officer and accident investigator at various squadrons and bases throughout South Africa. During that time, he spent 10 years as a fighter pilot, 10 years as a transport pilot and two years as the flight safety officer at the air force headquarters.
As Stiglingh removed his Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses for the photograph last Saturday, he said, “Do you know that these glasses are more than 40 years old?”
This promised to be a good story… and it was: the sunglasses that Stiglingh has carried in his pocket for the past 49 years, and which you’ll see him wearing, are official issue Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses. Issued in 1976 to the veteran of many more than 12 air-combat operations, the bridge carries a unique serial number – something you won’t find on anything less than the real deal.
You could not get Ray-Bans that were more genuine if you tried.
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 28, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
