S & V Publications

Johannesburg, Gauteng - Unusually among retailers currently, 'pre-owned luxury designer brand' retailer Wizard's Vintage is "very busy", showroom manager Karen Orzol said. Wizard's Vintage takes apparel on consignment, and has about 10 000 items in stock, she said. "During the lockdown, many women had clearouts, and the peo ...more

Umhlanga, KZN - Women' boutique Zip-Code was particularly badly hit by the various lockdowns because it specialised in "going out wear", member Clare Jones said, "and none of that's happening". Zip-Code sells locally-made clothing which she designs "We weren't in a good place before Covid," she said, "an ...more

"Some days we run around like mad people, others, we just mind the shop," was how Big & Tall Gents' Outfitters manager Hardus Labuschagne described business.      The 'mad' days are generally Saturdays, while during the rest of the week it's mostly one customer at a time, he said.  &nb ...more

A statement by Björn Jönsson, President of the SLTC (SA Section) At a committee meeting of the SLTC (SA Section) held on March 08, 2021, we took the sad decision to cancel the planned 2021 Convention.      We believe that nobody would want to spend all day in a room full of possible Corona virus tra ...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

Windhoek - "We're actually among the lucky firms," said sales representative Samantha Pieterse of PPE distributor J. Gerdes Uniwear. "A lot of companies have closed down, and business is a bit up and down, but overall we're trading quite well." Although the business doesn't carry facemasks, she said sourcing any forms ...more

Springs, Gauteng – "I can't complain," said Cattell's Industrial Footwear owner Rob Cattell. "January was on par with last year, February was slightly up. This month will be down on last year, because it was in March last year that the first lockdown started."      That good month l ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (March 15, 2021) – A Cape Town medical equipment supplier, accused of charging the Western Cape Department of Health excessive prices for medical examination gloves, has supplied the Department, at no charge, with 49 400 surgical masks to the same value (at cost) as the estimated “excessive profits& ...more

 Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (March 04, 2021) - The DOT Safety Footwear group has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with UK-based construction and agricultural machinery manufacturer J.C Bamford Excavators Ltd (JCB). DOT's licence covers the distribution of the premium range of JCB Safety Footwear throughout Southern Africa. D ...more

Pinetown, KZN, SA - The Lemaitre Maxeco - now part of the BBF Safety Group's footwear range - has shod generations of South African workers over the last 30 years, and almost 10 million pairs have been produced - a very rare achievement in this country. Every legacy has to start somewhere. It’s a story based on the recollections of ...more

There was a time, not too long ago, when footwear retailers, wholesalers, importers and manufacturers around the globe could rely on the certainty that their specific skills would see them through for time to come. Market forces were relatively simple and could be dealt with effectively. ...more

Boksburg, Gauteng, SA - I immigrated to South Africa in 1974 to take up employment with Plessey SA, upgrading and automating telephone exchanges. In 1981 I was deployed to the Natal north coast to install at Paradise Valley (Pinetown),  Salt Rock, Ballito, Verulam  and Stamford Hill (Durban). This is when we met Lionel Astill, M ...more

Lusaka, Zambia (February 12, 2021) – The Zambia Crocodile Farmers Association (ZaCFA) "is quietly confident" that the industry has turned around following the removal of the 10% export duty imposed on raw crocodile skins in the 2021 Budget, according to association spokesperson and Kalimba Farms chairman Bill Thomas. Altho ...more

Not much good news due to the lockdowns which have seriously affected the markets locally and internationally. However optimism prevails at Zambezi Tanners, which is re-equipping for full bovine hide production. This is in line with the ongoing demand for upholstery leather, which is currently being imported. A Zimbabwean leather furnitur ...more

As in nature, but much, much more quickly, protective garments have to constantly evolve with changing threats. This is the first in a series of articles on bullet resistant vests by Deon du Plessis, MD of Bullet Proofing Technology (Pty) Ltd, which manufactures a wide range of body armour plates and vehicle armour, and supplies a number of other bullet resistant vest manufacturers. ...more

Munich, Germany - People who are required to serve a large number of customers at a checkout or counter are at a particularly high risk of exposure to COVID-19. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP, a type of air lock was therefore developed to shield work stations from the surrounding air using constant ventilation. This ...more

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (January 18, 2021) - According to all Acts that pertain to employment, temporary employment service (TES) providers are regarded as the employer of any TES worker placed within a given organisation. However, according to the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, the TES provider is not regarded as the employe ...more