S & V Publications

Cape Town, W Cape, SA – Any apparel retailer can sell any item of apparel, all apparel retailers are allowed to have all members of staff at work, and the only restrictions now are hygiene - masks, sanitizers and social distancing. That's the situation as of today as far as the National Clothing Retailers' Federation understand ...more

Westmead, KZN, SA – We, as all non-essential businesses, had to close our doors on the 26th of March. We continued to work from home but in reality, as we are a manufacturing concern, all we really did was apply for TERS, Saft and the SMME Finance Relief Fund. The TERS was a nightmare to apply for as different formats were req ...more

- Future of UK Office chain on the line- Group may record a loss for the year Cape Town, W Cape, SA (May 25, 2020)  – The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and its declaration as a worldwide pandemic has had a significant impact on the businesses which the Group operates, especially the requirement to close all retail store p ...more

Wellington, W Cape, SA - One has to acknowledge that the remainder of 2020 will be very tough.  Liquidity in the industry will be the largest challenge we face and all of us have to act responsibly to our customers and suppliers in this regard.   There is vast uncertainty about the medium term future and shoe manufacturers ...more

Durban, KZN, SA - Morgan Naidoo, member of leather indent agent Alan D. Jackson, which has principals in Brazil, India and Pakistan, said most of his customers still had stocks of leather. He said the global drop in hide prices had seen the prices for Brazilian leather drop from US$2.45-2.50/ft² to $2.10, "which is a significant ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA - Unfortunately orders on the automotive side are nonexistent, and with Brazilian TR1s being offered at 0.35US$/ft², even export orders on wet blues are hard to come by and to compete with.  The majority of the wet blue plants were wet salting during the lockdown phase with the prospect of being able to pro ...more

Cape Town (SA) – The SARS footwear task team decided on a minimum reference price for safety footwear imports at its third meeting on February 6, but it is not clear what the price will be.       Geraldine Fröhling from SARS' communication department responded to questions from S&V:I know ...more

 The NRCS and safety footwear approval numbers - NRCS, SABS, and the safety footwear industry – no improvement in relationships Pretoria (SA) – The National Regulator for Compulsory Standards (NRCS) has so far issued approval numbers for 55 styles of safety footwear, according to its latest figures. It&rsqu ...more

Pinetown (SA) – BBF Safety Group launched a new customer liaison team concept in January.Dubbed sector specialists, the new team has consultants available for each major industrial sector – mining, agriculture, manufacturing, state owned enterprises and construction. The focus is on intensive knowledge transfer, innovation, ef ...more

Edcon, once the biggest fashion retailer in SA, went into business rescue at the end of April. CEO Grant Pattison, in charge for the past 2 years, blamed the lockdown as the final straw in the long slide which began in 2007 when it was acquired by US private equity firm Bain Capital for a - with hindsight - unsustainable R25 billion and d ...more

Most companies' disaster recovery plans didn't make provision for a virus-inspired national lockdown. Many companies, across all industries, have a business continuity plan of some sort, but this time they got punched in the face and caught with their pants down. Protection of profits and defending the bottom line is now more imperative t ...more

Dangee Carken: Perhaps this will be the catalyst for changeRobby Stoller, MD. Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA- Retailing is restricted to winter footwear. Do you have stock which you believe would qualify?Of course we qualify. We have brought in boots and closed footwear for the winter season. Most of our stock has been delivered to the trade a ...more

Rayton, Gauteng, SA - The hunting and taxidermy sectors are awaiting the easing of restrictions on the transport of trophies and game skins across provincial boundaries, and on a broader definition of allowed hunting, before they can resume commercially viable operations. "There are so many apparent contradictions in the rules," ...more

Lusaka, Zambia – Zambia’s crocodile farmers are poised to upscale investment, production and exports of skins following government’s intervention to suspend the 10% export duty on the industry. The removal of the 10% duty on crocodile skins has made some positive impact on the viability of the crocodile business, says th ...more

Chromium and the circular bioeconomy. Why does chromium not do so well in a circular bioeconomy? Can chromium build up in the biosphere and give us problems with plant-stunting? Can chromium be recycled more easily in a technosphere circular economy? Why don’t we recycle it more? ...more

SAPEMA KZN Regional Meeting, October 2Durban, KZN, SA - Foreign exhibitors at A-OSH were a major topic at SAPEMA's KZN regional meeting. Chaired by Clyde Beattie of Uvex, who is also SAPEMA's national vice-chairman, just 5 people, representing 4 of SAPEMA's 16 KZN members, attended. A-OSH SAPEMA is in discussions with Specialise ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (September 15, 2019) - The Commission has referred to the Competition Tribunal (Tribunal) for prosecution 18 fire protection companies for collusion. These  companies are  Automatic Sprinkler Inspection Bureau (Pty) Ltd, Belfa Solutions (Pty) Ltd, Bhubesi Fire Projects (Pty) Ltd, Centa KZN Sprinklers Cc, Na ...more

 Pretoria, Gauteng, SA - The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) has confirmed that it is "looking at the regulation of PPE as a whole", but it says that it is a process that will take time. "We will be having a lot of consultations with industry and key stakeholders," said Thomas Madzivhe, GM: ...more