The replenishment of cold gas into late-type galaxies is required to sustain their star formation rate densities over cosmic time, however, observational evidence remains ambiguous. MeerKAT observations of nearby galaxies are providing unique insights on the neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) gas morphology and kinematics from circum-galactic to circum-nuclear scales of galaxies, contributing to our understanding on how gas flows in and out of galaxies are responsible for the fuelling of star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN). I will present MeerKAT observations of two nearby galaxies, NGC 6240 and NGC 5643, where we detect HI clouds and filaments that enable us to trace the interaction history of the galaxies and the gas flows onto their disks.

MeerKAT observations of NGC 5643 trace the dense HI correlated with the star formation in the spiral arms and several external low-column density features, including a tail with extreme kinematics likely indicating cold gas accretion from the environment.
NGC 6240 is a prototypical post-merger system showing on-going dual nuclear activity and starburst-driven gas outflows/inflows. MeerKAT HI observations provide a new perspective on the gas dynamics near the dual AGN and as well the larger-scale interaction history.

These studies are a prototypical example of how MeerKAT observations add important information to the holistic understanding of gas flows in galaxies and their impact on star formation and nuclear activity. Comparisons such as this preview SKA observations at higher redshifts where the galaxy merger rate, AGN prevalence, and cosmic star formation rate density are significantly higher.