Herman Alheit...Fined for lockdown 'violation'.
SAPS raid \\\'a lack of understanding\\\'
Published: 13th May 2020
Dick Whittington Shoes, deemed an essential supplier because it makes government tender footwear, was raided by the police during 'Level 5' of the lockdown, for a suspected violation of lockdown rules. The rumour mills suggested MD Arveen Boodhoo and production manager Herman Alheit were arrested. Here the MD explains what happened.
Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA - No such thing happened to Herman or I.
But yes we had an welcome visit from SAPS.
Rumour has it that it was a tip off by labour.
As you know, our closing room is automated. The closing room operators were completing in process work on the conveyors left at lockdown to make way for army boots. This was done to facilitate the work flow because the clicking department were cutting the uppers and linings of the boots to feed into the closing room.
SAPS deemed this to be in violation of lockdown rules due to the fact that the closing room was working on non-essential goods.
As a result employees were dismissed, Herman as factory manager was charged and R5k fine was levied. Neither of us were put in orange overalls.
Not so interesting I guess but somewhat juvenile and a lack of understanding of process flow by SAPS.
Footwear Industry Articles
- Palm Footwear: ‘One family’Palm Footwear was founded in July 1966 by Kasie Pattundeen, with 18 staff, making slippers.60 years later, with over 800 staff, it is among the biggest employers in the SA footwear industry and among the biggest manufacturers by volume.It remains a family business, headed by Rajeev and Kiran Pattundeen, with their children, Srishti and Rt ...moreGrey Street – memories of an 80s GenX cool dude
Jonathan Commons, our webmaster, grew up in the Durban of the 1980s. He has a great affection for the Grey Street outfitters of the era, and he wrote these recollections.Oddly enough the news item about the closure of Jay's Outfitters triggered a bit of nostalgia for the good old days when, as a teenager in the 80s, one could hitchhike do ...moreWayne's Phambili range: Practical boots from non-safety to full protection
Roodepoort, Gauteng, SA – Wayne's Phambili range combines everyday comfort, dependable durability and clearly defined levels of protection in a practical range of PVC work boots. Developed for demanding working environments, the 3-boot lineup makes it easy to choose the protection best suited to the job while delivering the comfort ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Fifteen million sheep in the UK to share among shearersAccording to the UK government, its sheep population decreased over the past year by 1.7% but that still leaves a flock of over 30 million. For comparison, the domestic flock in South Africa numbers about 21 million and New Zealand has some 23 million. Australia, with more than 70 million, has a wool clip of approximately 325,000 tonnes. ...moreNigeria’s Leather Industry: Not a clear picture
Nigeria is widely accepted as having a very large livestock population, but a relatively small tanning industry, much of it concentrated in Kano, producing high grade goat- and sheepskin crust which is exported for finishing elsewhere for use in garments.Recent articles cast some doubt on this, so are Nigeria’s hides and skins: M ...moreZimbabwe Leather Development Council lobbies for Government contracts
The Zimbabwe Leather Development Council (ZLDC) is lobbying policymakers to open up public procurement contracts to local leather manufacturers, arguing that Government contracts are essential to reviving the country’s struggling leather value chain.Speaking on the sidelines of the Zimbabwe Industrialisation Conference and Expo (ZIC ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- 2nd SA PPE conference being planned for 2027 under the heading ‘Smart protection: the next era of PPE’Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA – Technology, artificial intelligence, connected devices and data are transforming the way we think about personal protection equipment — from how PPE is procured and selected, to how it is used, monitored and managed in the workplace.After the successful launch of the South African PPE conference hel ...moreRealPPE Marketplace: Where safety meets smarter procurement
RealPPE Marketplace is a 100% black women-owned B2B PPE marketplace built for South African industry. Founded after years of witnessing safety officers and procurement teams lose time to fragmented suppliers, inconsistent pricing, and missing documentation, RealPPE was created to bring structure and reliability to industrial PPE sourcing. ...moreFurther controls over the import of safety footwear are on the wayOn 03 August 2026, the Safety Footwear Working Group, led by SAFLIA, submitted a request to Minister Tau (dtic) for interim import control measures in respect of specified safety footwear. The request was strongly supported by organised labour and other industry stakeholders.The application was further strengthened by contributions f ...more
© S&V Publications
