Transnet Group Chief Executive Adv Michelle Phillips took the stage at the 48th Annual SAPICS Conference to deliver a frank account of the state-owned enterprise’s recovery, its operational progress and its ongoing battle against internal corruption. The setting was Century City Conference Centre, and the timing was pointed: South Africa’s supply chains are under sustained pressure from infrastructure constraints, energy and water instability and the compounding effects of global disruption.
Phillips outlined Transnet’s central role in moving goods across South Africa and beyond its borders, calling for stronger support for local manufacturing to cut costs, build resilience and generate employment. She did not sidestep the organisation’s difficulties. Addressing widely publicised corruption incidents involving some of Transnet’s own supply chain officials, she stated plainly that corruption would not be tolerated and reaffirmed the enterprise’s commitment to ethical governance.
Additional reference context is available at https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/connections-collaboration-and-knowledge-sharing-at-2026-sapics-conference-will-shape-the-future-of-supply-chain-excellence-in-africa-2026-07-27.
The operational stakes were clear throughout the program. The conference agenda covered talent development, AI adoption, healthcare supply chains, robotics, warehouse management transformation, quick commerce, inventory optimisation and sustainability. Each topic mapped directly onto the practical bottlenecks practitioners face daily.
The second keynote came from Demitta Gyang, Director of Customs Administration at the AfCFTA secretariat. Her presentation on building more connected African markets and making trade across the continent easier and more competitive drew particular attention from attendees.
SAPICS president Thato Moloi anchored the welcome address in the organisation’s six-decade record. He thanked Transnet, which served as Diamond Sponsor of the 2026 conference, and described the gathering as “a fitting way to celebrate SAPICS’s 60th anniversary because it reflected everything the organisation stands for.” He added: “SAPICS is the community and the voice of supply chain professionals across the continent, and our goal is to connect people and enable critical conversations that drive collaboration and knowledge sharing.”
Meanwhile, the conference program recognised standout contributions across several categories. Eleanor Red Louw from MANE in Dubai received Best Written Paper for “You’re Too Direct: A South African’s Journey to Cross-Cultural Stakeholder Influence.” Sanjay Saha and Dr Andrew Brown from Bee Skilled Global in India took Best Workshop for their Masterclass on Transformational Leadership. Best Speaker honours went jointly to Renier Louw from Inhance Supply Chain Solutions and Dax Puttergill from Spar Group for their presentation on SPAR2U. Dr Mark Fuller from Afrilean Consulting was named Most Innovative Speaker for TIPS: A Managerial Leadership Framework for Navigating Chaos in SCM.
On the exhibition floor, Smartee won Best Booth, CEVA Logistics took Best Single Stand and DHL claimed Best Multi Stand. As part of the 60th anniversary milestone, Lifetime Achiever Awards went to Bill Schneider, Cobus Rossouw, Colin Seftel, Ken Titmuss, Liezl Smith, Martin Bailey, MJ Schoemaker and Tracy Cheetham, with Kea Mpane, Mungo Park and Jenny Froome receiving the award in absentia.
Sponsor support came from Gold Sponsor CEVA Logistics, Silver Sponsors B2Wise, DHL, DP World, DSV, Dube Tradeport and Slimstock, and Support Sponsors Eazi Access, Industrial Logistic System and KNAPP.
Practitioners who attended were direct about the practical return. Ursela Klitzke from Bearing Man Group said: “Three years of attending the SAPICS Conference, and each one has been just as valuable as the last. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from industry leaders, reconnect with colleagues, meet new people and gain practical insights that I can take back into my role.” Alan Jansen van Vuuren from b2wise framed the anniversary in operational terms: “Being part of a community that’s spent six decades moving supply chain thinking forward on this continent isn’t a milestone you take lightly, it’s a reminder of how far we’ve come and how much momentum is still building.”
The conference arrives as AfCFTA implementation moves from framework to execution, with customs administration, cross-border logistics and intra-Africa connectivity shifting from policy ambitions to operational tests. Whether the collaboration and knowledge exchanged at Century City translates into measurable improvements on the ground is the question practitioners will be answering over the months ahead.