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 energy. But they did it, and it is official: bovine hides are no longer part of the EUDR directive. A really great result. These institutions were supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomacies from Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina and ultimately also by India. The leather industry united and the result is amazing! The EU decision is logical, but in politics logic is rarely the main reason behind a decision.
Footwear Industry Articles
- National Leather and General Goods Strategy WorkshopOn 23 June, following months of fieldwork, B&M Analysts (BMA) hosted an online workshop to discuss the recovery of the handbags, belts, travel goods and allied manufacturing industries in SA.The industries, although very diverse, fall under the General Goods & Handbags Sector of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Indus ...moreObituary: Vic Jablowski, BUSM, Protech V (03/09/1953-11/12/2025): One of those who survived BU’s closure
Durban, KZN, SA – My dad – was AMAZING.Born in 1953, he married Evelyn in 1979. My sister, Luanne Hough, was born in 1980, and I followed in 1983.A family man who made sure he supported his family in the most wonderful ways; he was also a loyal company man who worked most of his life for British United Shoe Machinery.But when ...moreWe could make sports shoes then, and I’m sure we could make them now
Retired shoemaker Brian Zyster shares more of his memories of ‘the good old days’ of footwear manufacturing in South Africa ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- SA’s 2025 automotive leather exports: Down on 2024, but still good, on the face of it
Figures from NAAMSA’s Automotive Trade Manual 2026 Automotive components – exports by product Component category 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 % of total export value Ran ...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. ...moreDavid Buirski retires (but we’re sure to hear more from him)
David Buirski, the former South African who edited World Leather from 1993 to 2005, and who continued his involvement with the publication and its offshoots until recently, has finally retired because “having turned 90 last December, I guess it was the sensible thing to do. Thirty-three years could be considered a long time.&rd ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- RealPPE Marketplace: Where safety meets smarter procurementRealPPE 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. ...moreThe PPE Conference – PPE isn’t optional, it’s essential: A review
Leighton Bennett, the Safety First Association chairperson and a SHE and risk management consultantThe hosts of this first PPE Conference held in South Africa, were the Safety First Association and SAPEMA, on the 10 and 11 March 2026, at the Emperor’s Palace, in Kempton Park.This conference objectives were to provide a unique opport ...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 ...more
