MONTHLY MEETINGS
SASRE meetings are usually held at 5pm on the third or fourth Thursday of each month in Pretoria and are open to all members. A member or guest presents on their project, technology or concept and fields questions from members. After the presentation members mingle, network and catch up with colleagues.
Unless otherwise stated, meetings take place at the Fhata Lushaka boardroom at Transnet Engineering, Koedoespoort.
Upcoming
Date: TBD
Topic TBD
Speaker TBD
Past topics
Date | Title | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
23/04/2026 | Fully automated underground mine haulage systems and lessons learnt for innovative rail wagon designs for the SADC network | Andrew Thorburn, Galison Group |
18/09/2025 | Developing an action priority matrix and technology roadmap for predictive railway maintenance | Lindelani Nethamba, Transnet Freight Rail |
26/08/2025 | Enabling Rail Reform and Intra-Africa Trade through the Leaseco | Wilson Mogoba, Transnet Group |
26/06/2025 | How Critical is Accurate Track Geometry
Data on Track Geometry Recording Cars | Solly Mahlaule, Stantec New Zealand |
29/05/2025 | Digitisation and Digitalisation of the Transnet Engineering Wheels Business | Ntakadzeni Makhwathana, TE |
24/04/2025 | Trackview: Using Patented Electrical Pulse Analysis for Train Detection and Rail Condition Monitoring | Tian Kunneke, HisWay Labs |
27/03/2025 | A computational design (CoDe) framework to emulate Battery Electric Locomotives (BELs) | Drs Rick Vandoorne, André Broekman & Wiehan Le Roux, Zutari |
30/01/2025 | Climate Change Double Feature: Forecasting and Mitigating the Effects thereof on Railway Track | Siphesihle Kunene, Africa Weather & Rita Dlamini, TRIM |
28/11/2024 | Advancing Africa: Traxtion's successes and growth | Morris Kgama, Traxtion |
24/10/2024 | Open Access Framework and Progress to date (AGM) | Thembi Lekganyane, Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager |
29/08/2024 | Transformation of South African and European railway sectors | Ross Hartley, Miner Enterprises |
20/06/2024 | Assessing strategies to mitigate cable theft
in the SA railway sector | Muhle Mthombeni, ACSA |
INDUSTRY VISITS
SASRE organises industry visits for its members. We visited the Columbus Stainless in March 2023 and toured the BMW plant in Pretoria in 2022. The 2018 visit took us to Ansys (now Etion) In 2017 we visited Rely Intracast, an investment casting company in Boksburg (pictures) and SCAW metals at Union Junction, Germiston. We enjoyed two tours of the SAA Technical facility in 2016. We visited the Gautrain maintenance depot in Midrand in 2015 and in 2014 and 2015, we toured the Columbus Steels plant in Middelburg.
We plan to visit Plasser Rail, the CSIR 3D Printing Lab, Rely Intracast, Timken or Ford South Africa soon.
Upcoming
Tuesday, 26th May 2026
Rely Precision Castings, Boksburg
We are excited to invite you to our upcoming industrial site visit to Rely Precision Castings in Boksburg on Tuesday, 26th May 2026.
Rely is the largest investment casting foundry in Africa, specialising in all air-melted alloys including stainless and carbon steels, speciality heat- and wear-resistant alloys and non-ferrous alloys. Investment casting, or the lost-wax process, is one of the oldest forms of casting. In its modern guise at Rely, it is capable of exceptional tolerances, fine finishes and responsive prototyping capabilities far beyond traditional sand casting. This visit to Rely's sophisticated casting plant promises to be informative and insightful, as you will have the opportunity to learn about Rely's history and the investment casting process, typical materials and applications of investment casting, and to tour the Rely facility.
To register your interest to attend, kindly click here or scan the QR code above and complete the form by Friday, 22nd May 2026 at 17:00. Note that spaces are limited and only SASRE members in good standing will be eligible to attend.
New members who have not received an invoice are automatically in good standing; for existing members, good standing is based on the invoice starting 'INV-2025...' Please contact us if you are unsure of your current standing.
Past
Year | Title |
|---|---|
2023 | Columbus Stainless |
2022 | BMW |
2018 | Etion (formerly Ansys) |
2017 | Cast Products SA (formerly SCAW Metals) |
2017 | Rely Intracast |
2016 | SAA Technical |
2015 | Gautrain maintenance depot |
2014 | Columbus Stainless |
ANNUAL EVENTS
SASRE hosts two annual events, an informal social gathering and a gala dinner.
The 2018 Gala Dinner was held at the Centurion Country Club on Friday, 26th October 2018. The 2017 Gala Dinner took place at the Centurion Country Club on Friday, 19th May 2017.