For Participants who will be arriving by air, Cape Town International Airport has modern facilities which include currency exchange services, shops and restaurants, car rental services and shuttle links to city hotels. If you will be arriving over the weekend (30/31 August 2025), you will be able to convert foreign currency to South African Rands at the airport (to allow you to use local taxis and shuttle buses), or at your hotel; banks would be closed until Monday morning. There will be plenty of taxis and shuttle buses to transfer you from the airport to your hotel. The Cape Town Waterfront is about 21km from the airport, which is a 25-minute drive along the N2 freeway under normal traffic conditions. African Blue Tours, the appointed tour agent for the Conference, will also be able to arrange transfers from the airport to the hotels. If you need their service, you will need to book in advance (refer to the conference website for details).
The Conference will take place at the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel, which is located next to the Cape Town Waterfront. It is expected that most of the conference participants will be staying in this hotel. Except for the Vineyard Hotel which is to the south of the City Centre in the suburb of Newlands close to UCT, all other recommended hotels will also be in the Waterfront area or its vicinity: the Commodore Hotel is within walking distance of the conference venue, while the Cape Town Lodge Hotel is a short drive away in the City Centre. The location of the main campus of UCT (this is in Rondebosch), the Newlands suburb, the City Centre and the Cape Town Waterfront, in relation to the N2 (Settlers Way) and other access routes, may be seen via the link (interactive Google map):
Map of Approaches to UCT and the Hotels
The Welcome Reception on Sunday 31 August 2025 will be held on the Upper Campus of UCT in the Leslie Social Sciences Building. The Upper Campus (part of the main campus of UCT) is situated on the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, and is prominently visible (as a dense cluster of grey buildings with red roofs) as one approaches the mountain from the airport via the N2. Once one has arrived on UCT Upper Campus, finding the Leslie Social Sciences Building is easy. The building lies in Grid Location 3C of the Upper Campus Map:
For those arriving on the Upper Campus of UCT by car, parking will be available in the following Car Parks (please refer to the UCT Upper Campus Map): P5 (Grid Location 2E) and P17 (Grid Location 1C).
For the Welcome Reception on Sunday 31 August 2025, coaches will leave from the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel at 15h30, and take delegates to the Upper Campus of UCT in Rondebosch. The Conference Registration Desk will open in the foyer of the Leslie Social Sciences Building at 15h30 on Sunday (for those who can make their own way to the Upper Campus of UCT), and will remain open until 18h00. Coaches will pick up delegates for the return trip to the Waterfront promptly at 18h00. For the Conference Dinner on Tuesday, 2 September 2025, coaches will leave the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel at 18h15, and take delegates to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Newlands. The pickup time for the return to the Waterfront will be 22h00.
Delegates staying in other accommodation will have to make their way to the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel and board the conference coaches from there, if they require transport for the trips to the Welcome Reception and the Conference Dinner. However, to be allowed onto the conference coaches, they will need to let the conference organisers know in advance, so that their names can be added to the passenger list. Delegates booked at the Southern Sun Cape Sun Hotel (the conference venue) will automatically be on the coach passenger list.
For the international visitors, it will be early spring in Cape Town at the time of the Conference. While generally sunny and warm during the day, the evenings will still be chilly, so you are advised to bring along some warm clothing. We very much look forward to your participation at the SEMC 2025 International Conference.