HI science with the SKA pathfinders KAT-7 & MeerKAT

The SKA South Africa radio astronomy roadmap is in 4 phases: Phase 1: construction of the pathfinder KAT-7 (7 × 12m antennae) completed in December 2010 & in operation since then (8 HI scientific publications - description of the results to follow); Phase 2: construction of the SKA precursor MeerKAT (maximum baseline ~8 km) (64 × 13.5m antennae), fully funded (RSA), completed in mid-2018; Phase 3: MeerKAT merged with SKA₁-mid (64 + 136 = 200 antennae - max baseline ~150 km ~1/2 FAST collecting area) 2018-2023; Phase 4: SKA2 (~2500 ?, SF or PAFs ? antennae) (phases 1 & 2) 2023-2030.