Southern African Transport Conference NPC (SATC)

The Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) is the longest-running transport conference in the region and describes itself as the premier annual gathering for transport professionals, researchers and policymakers. SATC is a non-profit company, and the 2026 conference, its 44th, took place at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria under the theme “Developing and sustaining transport systems in an uncertain world”.

Registered name

Southern African Transport Conference NPC (SATC)

Type

Non-profit company (transport conference)

Fields funded

Master’s and doctoral research in transportation

Website

satc.org.za

Email

info@satc.org.za

Phone

083 324 9622

How the conference began

SATC’s forerunner was an annual transport research conference organised by the CSIR’s National Institute for Transport and Road Research. Early in 1980, representatives of leading transport institutions told the then Secretary for Transport, Adriaan Eksteen, that too many separate transport conferences were being held, and they agreed to set up an Annual Transport Convention. The event was renamed the Southern African Transport Conference in 1997 at the Department of Transport’s request, according to a provider record checked in August 2026.

SATC has long served as a forum to debate transport policy, from infrastructure provision to transport authorities and performance indicators. Transport ministers Mac Maharaj and Jeff Radebe served as patrons, and the Minister of Transport remains the conference’s patron.

What delegates discuss

The 2026 programme shows transport’s links to other fields: a keynote on the recovery of South Africa’s power utility and what it means for transport networks, a session on how military research in autonomous vehicles and sensor networks can help civil transport, and a discussion of how private capital can help close Africa’s infrastructure funding gap. Besides papers, SATC runs capacity-building courses.

Bursaries and an essay competition

SATC offers two prestigious bursaries a year for full-time master’s or doctoral students in transportation working on their research component. SATC pays the funds to the student’s university and will not award them to students with other bursaries. Bursars sign a contract giving SATC the right to engage with their research, and students who do not complete their studies must repay the bursary with interest. The provider record values the bursary at about R170 000, renewable on progress.

SATC also runs an essay competition for undergraduate and postgraduate students, with essays due by 11 May, and pays travel costs for winning students and their lecturer to attend. Courtney Hickson of Stellenbosch University and Emilia Mupwedi of UCT received recent bursaries.

Applications for the 2027 bursaries open in December 2026, and recent rounds closed on 8 December.

How to research SATC

Read papers from recent conferences in your research area and ask your supervisor for a letter of support early.

See the Department of Transport bursary.