Some scary moments
The Life Of Brian: Back in the day, when overseas travel was a real trip. A series by Brian R. Zyster
Travelling abroad was a fantastic experience, seeing the world from another perspective.
However, with some of the fun times, we also experienced some scary moments.
Here are just some of them.
Plane crashes: Preparing to fly out of the country and hearing about 2 aircraft crashing into one another, hours before your departure, on the same runway that where you’re going to land.
Taxis: As a young person travelling for the first time in a taxi in Italy on the ‘wrong’ side of the road was nerve wracking because you were looking for something coming from your normal side.
Trains: Not understanding the true meaning of Swiss precision, we got onto a train 2 minutes before the departure time and ended up going in a completely different direction. Half an hour into the trip the ticket inspector told us to get off at the next station and go back to Zurich to catch the correct train. We never again took a chance with the timing of trains in any city in Europe.
Clubbing: On another occasion our host showed us around town in Stuttgart, Germany, and we ended the evening going to a club. I was completely shocked when I was not allowed to enter. My skin colour had them thinking that I was coming to deal drugs.
Luggage: On another occasion I travelled to Munich via Frankfurt. I booked my luggage straight into Munich but when I landed in Frankfurt, I decided to head into town to buy myself a nice leather jacket, which I still have to this day. I then missed the connecting flight and the panic kicked in worried about my baggage, forgetting that this was Europe. Customer services assured me that it was waiting for me in Munich, and it was.
Mugging (not): Last but not the least, walking in one of the back streets of Paris at night, I heard someone running in my direction. You can only imagine what was going through my mind coming from the Western Cape, so I started to run myself only for this guy to overtake me because he was late for something.
Footwear Industry Articles
- A perspective: Perhaps it was an eye-opener for industry players to hear each otherLooking back over the workshop, BMA consultant Justin Snelling wrote: “In terms of our reflections of the workshop, we covered a lot of territory. Perhaps though what was most encouraging was the breadth of participation from different segments of the sector and their willingness, or even excitement, to contribute. We don’t ta ...moreTshepo opens new store at Mall of Africa
Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (02 June 2026) — South African fashion brand Tshepo has opened its second store at Mall of Africa.Tshepo, founded by Tshepo Mohlala in Victoria Yards 10 years ago, specialises in locally made denim jeans.“Victoria Yards remains central to Tshepo's identity, serving as the bran ...more‘Footwear and leather goods sectors show united front at R-CTFL Masterplan review’
The R-CTFL Masterplan is currently under review, and a strategic planning session was recently convened with all key stakeholders and representatives present.The footwear and leather contingent participated fully in the session. Representatives from the dtic’s Footwear and Leather sector desk, SAFLEC, SAFLIA, and organised labour, i ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Sam Setter's 'Pills': Congratulations!Congratulations and compliments to UNIC and COTANCE for the huge job they have done together with LCHA, AHSLEA, Beef & Lamb New Zealand, TDSD, CICB, ALLPI, ICT, ICHSLTA, ICEC and SLF as well as many others by convincing the EU to scrap bovine hides from the EUDR directive. A long and tiring process which has cost them lots of time and ...moreImproving the strength and softness of crust leather through pressure treatment
IntroductionRetanning and fatliquoring have a major impact on the characteristics of leather, whereas dyeing and the finishing concentrate on the appearance of the leather. Various retanning agents and fatliquoring agents have been developed to improve the softness and mechanical strength of leather, parameters that are important to the b ...moreMONEY FROM WASTE
Europe has borne the difficulties and the costs of converting to a bioeconomy – the lessons are there, free, for African businesses to learn and profit from. ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- The legal ramifications: PPE and the law: Ignore at your peril?
There’s no shortage of legislation covering employee safety in South Africa, but as in so much else, the enforcement is poor.In terms of our laws, the death of an employee (or anyone else) in a work situation, caused by negligence, is treated as culpable homicide. An injury caused by negligence is also a criminal act – that, b ...moreProtecting the workforce: The critical role of PPE
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is utilised in a work-environment as part of a larger prevention plan, because on its own protection is limited and may even provide a false sense of protection.An occupational disease prevention plan must be an actionable approach that identifies workplace health hazards, evaluates exposure, and i ...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. ...more
