What is SAST in CST?
Central Time is 7 hours behind
South Africa Standard Time is on UTC+2:00 and Central Time is on UTC−5:00 right now. Central Time is on daylight saving, so its clocks read CDT. The gap changes during the year — see below.
- Time in Johannesburg
- 4:14 am
- Time in Chicago
- 9:14 pm
- Difference
- −7 h
- Next clock change
- November 1, 2026
Convert a time
CDT — Central Time
9:00 pm
Tue, the previous day
When the difference changes
South Africa Standard Time and Central Time do not change their clocks on the same dates, so the gap between them is not the same all year. Most converters show only today’s figure. These are the periods ahead:
- Now – November 1, 2026Central Time is 7 hours behind
- November 1, 2026 – March 14, 2027Central Time is 8 hours behind
- March 14, 2027 – onwardsCentral Time is 7 hours behind
Periods shorter than a day are not listed: both zones change at 2am in their own local time, so there are a few hours on each transition date when the gap is briefly something else.
Daylight saving
South Africa Standard Time
South Africa Standard Time stays on SAST all year, so its offset from UTC never moves.
Central Time
Clocks go back one hour at 2am local time, becoming CST.
SAST to CST conversion table
Every hour of Wednesday, September 23, 2026, converted from South Africa Standard Time to Central Time. 7 of the 24 hours fall on a different calendar day in Chicago, which is marked.
- 12:00 am SAST
- 5:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 1:00 am SAST
- 6:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 2:00 am SAST
- 7:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 3:00 am SAST
- 8:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 4:00 am SAST
- 9:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 5:00 am SAST
- 10:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 6:00 am SAST
- 11:00 pm CDT−1 day
- 7:00 am SAST
- 12:00 am CDT
- 8:00 am SAST
- 1:00 am CDT
- 9:00 am SAST
- 2:00 am CDT
- 10:00 am SAST
- 3:00 am CDT
- 11:00 am SAST
- 4:00 am CDT
- 12:00 pm SAST
- 5:00 am CDT
- 1:00 pm SAST
- 6:00 am CDT
- 2:00 pm SAST
- 7:00 am CDT
- 3:00 pm SAST
- 8:00 am CDT
- 4:00 pm SAST
- 9:00 am CDT
- 5:00 pm SAST
- 10:00 am CDT
- 6:00 pm SAST
- 11:00 am CDT
- 7:00 pm SAST
- 12:00 pm CDT
- 8:00 pm SAST
- 1:00 pm CDT
- 9:00 pm SAST
- 2:00 pm CDT
- 10:00 pm SAST
- 3:00 pm CDT
- 11:00 pm SAST
- 4:00 pm CDT
Scheduling between the two
Working hours overlap from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm SAST, which is 9:00 am to 11:00 am CDT. Anything inside that window falls in the normal working day at both ends.
A note on CST: it can also mean China Standard Time (UTC+8) and Cuba Standard Time (UTC−5). This page means US Central Time.
Central Time (CDT) is used in Dallas, Houston, Mexico City and Winnipeg