S&V African Leather Magazine Vol17 No6 June 2023
This Magazine is sponsored by SAFLIA
Click the advert links for more info. • Download PDF
IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Upfront
- A new quip from Sam Setter in each issue.
05 Furniture Leather
- Hannitan’s Atlantis plant to be called… Hannitan Atlantis.
- Leather furniture market “not as bad as you might think”, says Hugo Zuanni of Leather Link.
- But there’s still a casualty as Bravo Brands closes factory.
- Sheep skin processor would like to access more skins.
07 An Eclectic View
- Biogenic leather. Plastics – including ‘vegan leather’ – have handed leather a free pass to win hearts and minds in the battle to curtail old, bad, carbon, writes H. Procter.
09 Sustainability
- Adapting to a changing world: Report from Sustainable Leather Foundation MD Deborah Taylor.
10 Weights & Measures
- Compiled by the ISTT.
11 Agriculture
- Government grants for renewable energy can ease the burden of CESAR and the Department of Labour’s crackdown on South African farmers, writes Viren Sookhun, Managing Director of Oxyon People Solutions.
- No respite for farmers as debt servicing costs escalate following another 50-basis points hike, writes Paul Makube of FNB.
- Nampo is not just an event, it contributes to the success of agriculture, writes Dawie Maree of FNB.
13 Trade Statistics
- SA hides, skins and leather trade statistics for April 2023, issued by SARS.
Advertisers in this Issue
APLF (OFC), Authenticae (02), Evolution Engineering (01), International School of Tanning Technology (ISTT) (02), Mimosa (04), Rolfes Leather Division (06), S&V Calendar (14), S&V Directory (10), Southern African Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) (08), Sustainable Leather Foundation (03).
The Next Issue
- The July issue of S&V African Leather will be out on 07 July. The deadline for contributions is 30 June.
- BIOGENIC LEATHER
Plastics – including ‘vegan leather’ – have handed leather a free pass to win hearts and minds in the battle to curtail old, bad, carbon. ...moreSustainability: Adapting to a changing world
On 15 and 16 May, Northampton University held its inaugural Sustainability Summit with the central theme of “Adapting to a changing world – addressing our shared sustainability challenges”.The 2-day event, which was held at the University’s Waterside Campus, brought together representatives from local, national and ...moreGovernment grants for renewable energy can ease the burden of CESAR and the Department of Labour’s crackdown on South African farmers
Alberton, Gauteng, SA (01 June 2023) - Until recently, the agricultural sector of South Africa had a lower prescribed minimum wage than the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which was gradually increased to align with the National Minimum Wage. Now, agricultural workers qualify for the national minimum wage rate of R25.42 per hour, which means ...moreNo respite for farmers as debt servicing costs escalate following another 50-basis points hikeJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA (26 May 2023) – The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) announced another 50-basis points interest rate hike thus bringing the repurchase rate to over a decade high of 8.25%. The prime rate thus moved higher by 0.50% effective from the 26th of May 2023.Unrepentant inflationary pressures emanating from elevat ...moreNampo is not just an event, it contributes to the success of agricultureJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA (29 May 2023) – Some people might think the agricultural industry is a struggling industry when you listen to commentary on public platforms. However, when you visit an event like Nampo, one gets another view – a much more positive view. The official numbers, as reported by Stats SA, still show that t ...moreSA hides, skins and leather trade statistics for April 2023Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (31 May 2023) – Source: SARS.Including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN)Cumulative tradeTrade balance R'm (73 218 433)Ratio (exports/imports) 0.95Monthly tradeTrade balance R'm 51 852 637Ratio (exports/imports) 1.15ExportsMonth % of total 0.24Cumulative 2022 (R'm) 1 296 194 167Cumulative 2023 (R'm ...moreFurniture leather: Hannitan’s Atlantis plant to be called…Hannitan AtlantisSprings, Gauteng, SA – Further to the article in the 05 June issue of the S&V Weekly Newsletter, Hannitan’s new crusting plant, which is planned to open in Atlantis, outside Cape Town, in August, will trade as Hannitan Atlantis.Hannitan makes mainly leather for furniture upholstery.It will process around 1 000 wet blu ...moreLeather furniture market: ‘Not as bad as you might think’Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – “The question is: If a consumer has R50 000 to spend right now, will he spend it on a leather suite or on an inverter? It’s something of a no-brainer,” said Leather Link’s Hugo Zuanni, in response to a query on the state of the leather furniture market.Leather Link is an agent, i ...moreFurniture leather: But there’s still a casualtyVerulam, KZN, SA – Bravo Brands is in the process of closing Grafton Everest, in Verulam, 1 of its 3 furniture manufacturing plants.Its other furniture manufacturing divisions are Alpine Furniture in Stellenbosch, W. Cape, and GommaGomma in Isithebe, KZN.The Grafton factory made fabric and leather upholstered furniture, as does Alpi ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- Shlobo Designs: Foreign consumers appreciate handwork and the story behind the brand
Durban, KZN, SA – I’m a native of Umlazi’s K section, but I’ve called Seaview home since 1994.My life has been a tapestry of experiences, woven with threads of resilience, creativity, and unwavering determination. My journey took an unexpected turn when I was retrenched while working for the bank with a wealth expe ...morePalm 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 ...moreLemaitre’s Robust Pro, ‘based on user feedback, is a gamechanger in safety footwear’
Lemaitre, a trusted leader in safety footwear, is proud to announce the launch of the New Robust Pro, a reimagined safety shoe designed to deliver unparalleled comfort, durability, and all-around protection for workers across industries. With the Robust Pro we set out to create a shoe that truly works as hard as the people who wear it by ...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 ...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 ...moreSARLEN aims for business and regulatory advocacy for the leather value chain across SADC
The formation of the Southern African Regional Leather Network (SARLEN) is a process to formalise a voice for commercial, entrepreneurial and developmental associations in the leather value chain (LVC) for the region.The leather value chain has been recognised in SADC as a key entrepreneurial opportunity that can adjust to the scale of th ...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. ...moreNew OHS regulations coming into force later this year mean PPE needs to be reviewed, too
In March 2025, the Physical Agents Regulations (and their guidelines) and the Noise Exposure Regulations (and their guidelines) of the OHSAct were published, with an 18-month time-period promulgation date to September 2026, allowing employers time to upgrade their Health & Safety requirements to comply with the new published regulatio ...moreThe 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 ...more
© S&V Publications
