Footwear - Leather - PPE Industry News & Articles

How long will stitchdowns be a fashion item this time around? It’s hard to predict but I believe stitchdowns current popularity will continue for many more seasons, especially locally due to price and the versatility of the traditional Veldschoen silhouette.  Fashion fluctuates depending on the times so the Vellie demand w ...more

How long will stitchdowns be a fashion item this time around?Normally the product life cycle follows a pattern which, towards the tail end, attracts many rats and mice or so-called fly-by-nights. We have an increasing number of the afore-mentioned, which usually precipitates a fall off of business as the category becomes cheapened and hea ...more

How long will stitchdowns be a fashion item this time around?We would like to see this carry on of course for a long time to come, and we are always looking at new designs and concepts as well, but we also need to focus on growing our brand internationally, and you can’t just release new leathers and designs all the time, it takes t ...more

The name is derived from the Afrikaans vel, later assimilated with veld, and skoene. They were first made by the Dutch settlers in the mid-17th century. The design is believed to be based on the traditional Khoisan footwear observed by these settlers. The footwear was later embedded into the South African cultural psyche, the rest is hist ...more

Stitchdowns have been riding a global wave for several years now.  What makes that special for the southern African footwear industry is that a) it's an evergreen item for a core (and not insignificant) customer group and b), it's a construction that has been made locally since - well forever, really - meaning they have a realistic o ...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

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (February 01, 2021) - Government’s ban on alcohol as part of the COVID-19 lockdown highlighted the devastating impact alcohol abuse has on society. While alcohol was banned, there were far fewer instances of domestic abuse, and pressure on hospitals was eased because alcohol-related injuries and accidents were ...more

There is one element that is so fundamental to the survival of our businesses that we often fail to even think of it. It encompasses all three main risk factors – namely business interruption, climate change and changes to legislation – and without it, entire industries are crippled. And that is water.  "Busines ...more

Vreden, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (press release: August 12, 2020) – For cost-efficient entry into integral welding fume extraction: The new WallMaster filter system from KEMPER lets metalworking companies optimise their protective welding equipment for employees. With an area of 42 m², the stationary unit has the largest ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (January 29, 2021) - The Competition Tribunal has found two fire control firms guilty of fixing prices, dividing markets and tendering collusively in the market for supplying, installing and maintaining fire control and protection systems. Cross Fire Management (Pty) Ltd has been ordered to pay an administrative pena ...more

'Inherently flame-resistant fabric provides unprecedented safety in electrical environments'. BBF Safety Group has launched its range of Bova arc flash protection garments. The range has been designed to provide a balance of inherent protection against the hazards of an arc flash, with lightweight, comfortable and durable garments. ...more

By Anderson Cilliers, training manager, Protekta Safety Gear “In the midst of an ordinary training day, I try to remind myself that I am preparing for the extraordinary.” - Shalane Flanagan Working at heights is globally regarded as one of the highest risk activities on any site whether it be maintenance, installatio ...more

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (December 03, 2020) - Global NCAP and AA South Africa released their report on crash test results for 3 vehicles, the fourth round of their #SaferCarsForAfrica programme, which is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the FIA Foundation. According to the report: The three models tested, the Steed 5 pick-up fr ...more

Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA (February 19, 2021) - Temperature and humidity monitoring are essential, particularly when it comes to the storage and transport of temperature-sensitive goods, such as medicines and vaccines or fruit, vegetables, ice cream, frozen food and meat. In order to maintain the integrity of the cold chain from manufactu ...more

Pinetown, KZN, SA - Lemaitre and Maxeco’s stories began with a series of firsts. As pioneers of the country’s safety footwear industry, it used its first direct injection moulding machine to deliver the first double density PU footwear made available in South Africa. Maxeco has since gone on to become the number one sold safet ...more

Uppsala, Sweden (press release: February 02, 2021) - Radonova Laboratories, specialist in radon measurement, has launched a new radon detector, Radtrak³. Radtrak³ is smaller than its predecessor Radtrak², which simplifies both the deployment and delivery process. The smaller size and the ability to reuse plastic components ...more

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA - Shortages of facemasks and coveralls caused by the pandemic have resulted in many PPE distributors and resellers "turning a blind eye" to checking that the products they sell meet required standards, according to Deleane Luzzatto, chairperson of the Southern African Protective Equipment Marketing Asso ...more

Pretoria, Gauteng, SA - Oak Medical and Laboratory Supplies cc, accused of charging government excessive prices for a once-off batch of 200 000 tongue depressors (in the context of Covid-19), has agreed to give the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) a credit note to the value of the calculated overcharge. This forms part of the te ...more