What does this mean ?

[John Fellows]

Could anyone tell me what the abreviations S.A.T - S.A.V mean ?
I saw them on some gauges in a loco cab.

Thanks John

[John Ashworth]

I seem to recall that there was a period when SAR/SAS (South African Railways/Suid Afrikaanse Spoorweg) was replaced by SAT/SAV, which might have been something like South African Transport Services and its Afrikaans equivalent. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can answer.

[Chris Janisch]

In 1988 or so it became SA Transport Services and coincided with the time of deregulation of government control of road transport. So when this happened transport services started leaving the rails. Sometime in the early 1990s the name Spoornet was then introduced. In 2006 or so it became Transnet Freight Rail. We await the next exciting change soon!

[Steve Appleton]

From Wikipedia with additions:

By 1981, government decided that the South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H) should restructure itself along business lines in order to evolve from a state-owned corporation towards privatization. In April 1981, the country's railway, harbour, road transport, aviation and pipeline operations became known as "South African Transport Services" (SATS), the Afrikaans equivalent being "Suid Afrikanse Vervoerdienste" (SAV). At the same time, the SATS enterprise was restructured into units and divisions with strong emphasis placed on localized management.

Later, the "Legal Succession to the South African Transport Services Act, 1989" transformed the South African Transport Services from a government department ("commercial enterprise") into a state-owned public company, separated out commuter rail services and established the "SA Rail Commuter Corporation" (SARCC), forerunner to Metrorail - initally operated under agreement by SATS, and later incorporated into the "Passenger Rail Agency of SA" (PRASA).

On 1 April 1990, after 80 years of government and parliamentary control, SATS received full company status and as a new, limited liability company, became Transnet SOE Limited.

Meantime, the government observed that the separation of ownership between SARCC and Transnet caused problems, in particular with disputes over the responsibility for maintenance and investment. In 2006, ownership of Metrorail was transferred to the SARCC, unifying the responsibility for commuter rail. In December 2008, the SARCC was renamed the "Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa", and in subsequent months Shosholoza Meyl and Autopax were transferred from Transnet to PRASA. This left PRASA as the owner of all the passenger-carrying operations of the former SATS.