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ROAD FREIGHT SME SUMMIT A platform designed to unpack the challenges and solutions to improve the success rate of SMEs in Road Freight. Contact Us Date: 21st - 22nd October 2026 #ACCESS Learn More About Us Venue: Indaba Hotel, Fourways, Johannesburg Event Closed • Event Closed • Event Closed • Event Closed • Event Closed

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2026/10/21 07:30:00

Take a sneak peak at our 2025 Road Freight SME Summit

The Road Freight SME Summit was held on 16th and 17th of October 2025. The purpose of this event was to provide valuable insights and strategies to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the road freight sector.

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What value will the Road Freight SME Summit unlock?

The conference agenda and content will provide answers and practical approaches on critical success factors for Road Freight SMEs.

Assist the SMEs with the necessary pragmatic, technical and operational insights to enable them to scale their businesses.

Assist in informing the design and development of SME Business Development Implementation programmes and initiatives.

Assist the Industry to inform key policies on support provided to SMEs.

Event Date: 21st – 22nd October

Event Time: 07:30am – 16:00pm

Indaba Hotel, Fourways, Johannesburg

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Event Schedule and Agenda

Topics to be covered

  • What’s Moving SA’s Freight Economy: Tracking Commodity Flows, Costs & Demand in FMCG and Mining
  • Navigating Infrastructure Realities – Road Conditions, Truck-Stops, Congestion & Cost to SMMEs
  • Cross Border & Bottlenecks: Navigating the Maze of African Trade and Cross Border as an SMME
  • Managing Fuel, Cash Flow & Profitability in Tight Markets
  • The Road-to-Rail Transition – Threat or Opportunity for SMMEs?
  • Counting Every Kilometer: Mastering Total Cost of Ownership in SMME Trucking
  • The Cost Impact of Poor Tyre Management on SMME Profit Margins
  • Digital Tools That Are Transforming SMME Fleet Management
  • Increase Efficiency: Processes and Systems for Vertical Growth in SME Trucking Companies
  • Cover Your Cargo: Demystifying Insurance, Risk & Driver Vetting for Trucking SMMEs
  • Buy a Second hand or Rent? Making Smart Truck Acquisition Decisions for Your SMME

What can you expect to get out of the Road Freight SME Summit?

  • Insights and industry best practices to improve the success rate of SMEs in the Road Freight Industry.
  • Information that will enable SMEs to form and implement growth strategies for their operations.
  • Unpack opportunities both financial and non – financial business support is required by SMEs in the Road Freight sector, that can improve the growth and success of these businesses
  • Foster collaboration in support of the growth of empowering SMEs through a curated ecosystem platform that enables public and private stakeholders to exchange knowledge and best practice in investing in these SMEs.
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How can SMEs in the road freight sector benefit from the summit?

Gain

Gain a clear overview of various financial and non-financial solutions for SMEs in Road Freight.

Present

Present your business services directly to key decision-makers from various companies, in a relaxed environment.

Benefit

Benefit from one-to-one engagement with potential clients from a wide range of sectors.

Create

Create highly competitive networks with like-minded individuals.

07:30am – 08:30am
Registration

Arrival, registration and welcome tea/coffee.

08:30am – 08:40am
Opening Remarks

Welcome to the 4th Annual Road Freight SME Summit 2026.

Speaker: Florence Musundwa, Convenor, Road Freight SME Summit

08:40am – 08:55am
Sponsor Opening Remarks

Remarks from the Summit’s headline sponsors.

08:55am – 09:45am
Opening Panel: What Will It Take for SMMEs to Compete in 2026 and Beyond

Pain point: The industry is changing at a fast pace and competition is tighter than ever. How do I survive now and beyond 2026?

The panel that sets the tone for the day. A direct, no-spin conversation on what will separate the SMMEs still standing in five years from those that will not.

  • Cross-border trade corridors and market access, from the C-BRTA vantage point.
  • Building a workforce ready for scale through skills development and training authority support.
  • Rail’s growing role in freight movement and what it means for road operators.
  • Labour relations, wage costs and bargaining council dynamics shaping the workforce.

Panellists: Lwazi Mboyi, CEO, C-BRTA. Maphefo Anno-Frempong, CEO, TETA. Mesela Nhlapo, CEO, ARIA. Musa Ndlovu, National Secretary, NBCRFLI

09:45am – 10:15am
The Transport Economy

Pain point: What trends and shifts do I need to prepare for, from OEM developments to commodity swings to corridor growth?

What 2026’s economic conditions are doing to your rates, your costs and your working capital, whether you have run the numbers or not.

  • OEM shifts: new entrants, vehicle technology and what they mean for financing decisions.
  • Commodity price swings and what they mean for freight volumes and rates.
  • Corridor growth: which trade routes are expanding and where the opportunity is.
  • Global trade disruption and AfCFTA, and the cross-border opportunity SMMEs are missing.

Speaker: Dr Paulina Mamogobo, Chief Economist, Naamsa

10:35am – 11:05am
Beyond the Broker

Pain point: Brokers are taking 20 to 30 percent of my rate, and I have no direct shipper relationships to fall back on.

The practical toolkit to break broker dependency and take back the margin that belongs in your business, not someone else’s.

  • Quantifying the true cost of broker dependency in rand terms.
  • Digital freight exchanges and direct shipper prospecting that actually convert.
  • Preferred carrier status and the contract terms that protect your margin.

Speaker: Jonathan McDonald, VP, SAFLA

11:05am – 11:55am
Panel: Unlocking Working Capital in a High-Risk Industry

Pain point: I am an SME in an industry funders label high risk, and my application keeps getting declined, priced out of reach, or ignored.

How SME operators with proven revenue break through a funding ceiling in an industry stacked against them from the outset, and win anyway.

  • Reframing your fleet to change how funders see your risk profile.
  • Contracted revenue, invoice discounting and DFI funding routes that are actually accessible.
  • Building the banking relationship that unlocks structured credit, not another decline letter.

Panellists: Absa, Speaker TBC. Thabo Moodie, COO, Oricred. Lee-Anne Vermeulen, National Manager: Commercial Finance, Finance Warehouse

11:55am – 12:15pm
Breakdown Management: A Practical Guide for SME Fleet Operators Who Outsource Maintenance

Pain point: A breakdown costs me a day’s revenue, a penalty and sometimes a client, and I do not have an in-house workshop to fall back on.

The practical playbook for keeping your trucks rolling when your maintenance is outsourced, built for operators who rely on external workshops and remote support, not an in-house team.

  • Putting a real rand value on the true cost of a breakdown.
  • Vetting and managing outsourced workshops and remote mechanic networks that respond fast.
  • OBD diagnostics and relaying fault data accurately to a third-party technician.
  • The preventive maintenance schedule that stops most roadside failures before they happen.

Speaker: Dewald Brand, Contract Success Executive, RNR

12:15pm – 12:40pm
Human Capital: How to Build a Winning Team

Pain point: I cannot win bigger contracts or pass vendor audits because everything in my business runs through me.

The team structure that makes your business investable, contractable and no longer dependent on one person to survive.

  • Breaking the owner-operator bottleneck for good.
  • The roles every growing SME needs: controller, compliance officer, dispatcher.
  • Recruitment, learnerships and driver retention strategies that actually work.

Speaker: Siyabonga Gule, Founder, Beapo

12:40pm – 13:15pm
TFN: The Entrepreneurial Journey, the Losses and the Lessons

Pain point: Everyone shows you the highlight reel. Nobody tells you what surviving twenty years in this industry actually costs.

Twenty years of building a transport business, told without a filter, by the founder who lived every crisis and is still standing.

  • The founding gap and what the early years actually looked like.
  • The cashflow crises and the hard decisions that survival demanded.
  • The lessons every operator in this room needs before they learn them the hard way.

Speaker: Stevie Ferreira, Founder, TFN

13:15pm – 13:30pm
Closing Remarks and Networking Lunch

07:30am – 08:30am
Registration

Arrival, registration and welcome tea/coffee.

08:30am – 08:40am
Day 2 Welcome

Opening remarks ahead of the Day 2 masterclass programme.

Programme Director of the Day

08:40am – 09:10am
OEM Masterclass

Pain point: My fleet financing, maintenance costs and downtime are all rising, and I am replacing trucks without a real strategy.

A frank, OEM-led conversation on the lifecycle decisions that determine whether your fleet makes you money or quietly drains it.

  • Total cost of ownership modelling and getting replacement timing right.
  • Asset financing structures actually available to SMEs in 2026.
  • Telematics, remote diagnostics and the new energy vehicle outlook.

09:10am – 09:40am
Purchase Order Financing

Pain point: I have multiple confirmed orders running at once, but my working capital is locked in one cycle waiting for payment.

Structuring a working capital cycle that grows with your fleet instead of holding it hostage between loads.

  • Moving from transactional PO funding to a revolving facility.
  • Negotiating advance rates that reflect your real track record.
  • Stacking PO finance with invoice discounting to free up cash faster.

Speaker: Jedd Harris, Chief Strategy Officer, Sourcefin

09:40am – 10:10am
Retail and Supply Chain

Pain point: I want to work directly with retailers, including across borders, but I do not know how their procurement works or what it demands of me.

Vendor qualification, contract management and turning a retail supply agreement into a working capital instrument, not just another low-margin client.

  • How retail transport procurement actually works, including cross-border lanes.
  • The minimum compliance thresholds that get you onto a vendor panel.
  • Using a retail contract to unlock capital, not just cover costs.

Speaker: Unathi Kildase, VP Operations, Game Africa Massmart

10:30am – 11:00am
Fuel and Technology

Pain point: Fuel is my single biggest cost, it keeps rising, and I have no real strategy beyond absorbing the hit.

What Sasol’s fuel, energy and technology outlook means for SME fleet cost and planning, straight from the source.

  • Fuel price and input cost trends shaping 2026 operating margins.
  • Technology and efficiency levers available to SME fleets today.
  • Planning now for the energy transition in road freight.

11:00am – 11:25am
RTMS Accreditation as Commercial Strategy

Pain point: I keep losing tenders to RTMS-accredited operators, and I do not know if the investment makes sense for a fleet my size.

Why RTMS is not a compliance burden but a commercial weapon, and the real audit, cost and contract-access value it carries.

  • The gap between running a good fleet and passing an RTMS audit.
  • How RTMS accreditation can reduce your insurance premiums.
  • The tender scoring advantage RTMS gives you over non-accredited competitors.

Speaker: Oliver Naidoo, MD, JC Auditors

11:25am – 11:50am
Insurance for Trucking and Logistics SMEs

Pain point: One serious incident could wipe out my business, and I am not certain my current cover actually protects me.

Structuring cover that is built for a growing fleet, not a policy you took out years ago and never revisited.

  • Matching cover to fleet size, cargo type and route risk.
  • Managing premiums through driver behaviour and compliance data.
  • Claims readiness and risk management that protects the business, not just the truck.

11:50am – 12:15pm
Bargaining Council Employment Regulations

Pain point: My bargaining council levies have become a significant operating cost, and I am managing driver classifications and disputes with no real strategy.

Levy optimisation, dispute management and wage cost control for operators who can no longer afford to treat this as a compliance afterthought.

  • Auditing levy submissions and correcting driver classification errors.
  • Exemption applications and resolving disputes before they escalate.
  • Using council benefits strategically as a driver retention tool.

Speaker: Representative from Bargaining Council

12:15pm – 13:00pm
Closing Story: From Losing R2 Million to Bouncing Back, A Story of Resilience

Pain point: Everyone talks about growth. Almost nobody talks about what it takes to survive losing everything and rebuild anyway.

An unfiltered, personal account of setback and recovery in road freight, for every delegate who has faced their own hardest moment in this business.

  • The setback and what it truly cost the business.
  • The decisions that rebuilt it, one step at a time.
  • The lessons every operator needs before facing their own hard moment.

Speaker: Khaya Mahlangu, MD, Cegash Rentals

13:00pm – 13:30pm
Closing Remarks and Networking Lunch

Event Sponsors and Partners