S&V African Leather Magazine Vol19 No7 July 2025
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IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Sam Setter’s ‘Pills’
- A new quip from Sam Setter in each issue.
04 Upfront
- Automotive leather exports grow, but ‘entire auto industry at risk from U.S. tariffs, warns NAAMSA’s Dr Norman Lamprecht.
- Foot and mouth disease update in SA: Progress, but most quarantines remain. Karan’s Heidelberg feedlot remains closed.
07 An Eclectic View
- LIRI – origins and end. Correspondent H. Procter describes LIRI’s many high points, and laments the failure to stay open in changing times.
11 Leather, Its Image & Its Place In The World
- Celebrating 5 years of sustainable progress. The Sustainable Leather Foundation’s Deborah Taylor takes a justifiably proud look at an eventful period.
13 Weights & Measures
- Compiled by the ISTT.
Development
- Ethiopia’s LISEC project, 8 years on. Time to invest in the Ethiopian leather value chain, says chief technical advisor Yassin Awale.
Advertisers in this Issue
Authenticae (06), International School of Tanning Technology (OFC) (08), Mimosa (04), Rolfes Leather Division (02), S&V Calendar (01), S&V Directory (05), Southern African Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) (03), Sustainable Leather Foundation (OFC).
The Next Issue
- The August 2025 issue of S&V African Leather will be out on 15 August. The deadline for contributions is 08 August.
- LIRI - ORIGINS AND END
The Leather Industries Research Institute (LIRI) was a research, education and training provider located on the Rhodes University campus, based in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. In 1938, the Rhodes University College initiated a small, but successful tanning/hides/skins section in the Chemistry Department. The department was formed as a resp ...moreCelebrating 5 Years of Sustainable Progress!
On Sunday 13th July, SLF was proud to mark a significant milestone — 5 years of the Sustainable Leather Foundation!Since our launch in 2020, we’ve been dedicated to making the leather industry more transparent, responsible, and sustainable. Thanks to our growing worldwide community, we’ve:✅ Developed practical tools to ...moreA call to action: Invest in Ethiopia’s Leather Value Chain
Africa is moving towards greater integration, towards opportunity, and towards self-sustaining growth through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).This presents a timely and strategic opportunity for Ethiopia to leverage its natural renewable resources, its growing technological base, and its skilled workforce to take its plac ...moreSam Setter's 'Pills': For readers who need some wry medicinal humourEUDR - againThe Italian Government is proactively engaged to support the leather industry in its efforts to delete leather from the deforestation directive. This is how one can summarise the message that Mr. Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, submitted to the European Commission regarding leather and deforestation: ‘Eit ...moreAutomotive leather exports grow, but ‘entire auto industry at risk from U.S. tariffs’, warns NAAMSAPretoria, Gauteng, SA – After a long period of decline, South Africa’s exports of stitched leather seats and parts grew consistently from a low of R85 million in 2021 to R288 million in 2024, according to the Automotive Trade Manual 2025, published by the Automotive Business Council (NAAMSA), and written by its executive manag ...moreFoot and mouth disease update: Progress, but most quarantines remainPretoria, Gauteng, SA – FMD has spread to Free State Province, the Department of Agriculture confirmed on 14 July, with a commercial farm near Kroonstad quarantined, with surveillance, vaccination and trace-back to determine the source.“As of July 2025, a total of 270 FMD outbreaks have been reported across 5 provinces in Sout ...moreEthiopia’s LISEC project, 8 years onIn 2018, the United Nations industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) launched its ‘Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employment Creation Project’ (LISEC) in Ethiopia. Funded by the European Union (EU), which invested €13.75 million, the project has been centred around Modjo City.It has focused on reducing migration by ...moreFootwear Industry Articles
- Vermont sale completedJohannesburg, Gauteng, SA – After 39 years, former owner Mandy Owen has sold her shares in Vermont Leathercraft Manufacturers (Pty) Ltd to Creek Lab (Pty) Ltd, and officially handed over the business to Prashant Bhaga.In a message on LinkedIn, she wrote: “I would like to thank my husband, Graham, for his invaluable contributio ...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 ...moreR-CTFL meeting: Manufacturers told ‘to come back with something to show’Last week’s R-CTFL Masterplan meeting between retail, manufacturing, labour and government, with a concentration on footwear and leather goods, showed that the gulf between retail and the rest hasn’t narrowed.A follow-up meeting is planned for 08 May.The Department of Trade, Industry & Competition (DTIC), the SA Footwear & ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- Leather Naturally launches new report on sustainable water managementLeather Naturally’s latest educational resource, Sustainable Water Management in the Leather Industry (https://www.leathernaturally.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Leather-Naturally-Sustainable-Water-Management.pdf), is available to download.Developed using insights from recent public consultation, the report explores:* Why water rem ...moreSA’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 ...moreSARLEN: Defining what needs to be doneThe SARLEN webinar on 12 June 2026 featured 3 main speakers. The entire presentation can be seen here: : https://drive.google.com/file/d/14xBkPMTqsln-YuqkCXsm_vsazDwNqL83/view?usp=sharing ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- What if the respirator you rely on to protect your health never sealed properly?
I had the opportunity to present at the first PPE Conference in RSA, where I shared some early work we) have been exploring towards developing respirator designs better suited to the South African population.Below is a short AI-generated summary of the core message of the presentation.Respirators are often the last line of defence against ...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 ...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
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