S&V African Leather Magazine Vol19 No10 October 2025
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IN THIS ISSUE:
03 Sam Setter’s ‘Pills’
- A new quip from Sam Setter in each issue.
05 Upfront
- Foot and mouth disease: Low automotive demand ‘a blessing’.
- Fungicide launch planned, writes Leather Systems’ SA’s Tony Stottelaar.
- When textile mills are down, hopefully tanneries are up, writes Fredisco Dyes & Chemicals’ Matt Schneider.
- Keeping it in the family: FC&T Supplies’ Hannes Harding explains changes.
- Key changes in TFL’s leadership team.
09 An Eclectic View
- Gelatine industry – leather users have long joked about good it would be to have square hides…thanks to the demand for gelatine, maybe that’s not so far away, writes correspondent H. Procter.
11 Leather, Its Image & Its Place In The World
- African tanneries are paving the way for more sustainable leather manufacture, writes the Sustainable Leather Foundation’s Deborah Taylor.
12 Weights & Measures
- Compiled by the ISTT.
13 Statistics
- Preliminary South African trade statistics for August 2025.
Advertisers in this Issue
Authenticae (OFC), International School of Tanning Technology (ISTT) (06), Mimosa (02), Rolfes Leather Division (04), S&V Calendar (01), S&V Directory (10), Southern African Footwear & Leather Export Council (SAFLEC) (07), Sustainable Leather Foundation (08).
- Key changes in TFL´s leadership team
Langenfeld, Germany – Kaija Korolainen was appointed Group Chief People Officer (CPO) on 01 July and Samer Al Jabi was appointed Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) on 01 September.Kaija has a strong track record of strategic HR leadership across multiple industries and geographies. At TFL, she is responsible for ...moreGELATINE INDUSTRY
Leather users have long joked about how good it would be to have square hides…thanks to the demand for gelatine, maybe that’s not so far away ...moreSam Setter's 'Pills': For readers who need some wry medicinal humourDevelopment aid: What happened in Ethiopia demonstrates that plans by governments, UNIDO and NGOs that don’t take into account economic realities will failWhat follows is just an example of many similar situations in the whole spectrum of development aid for the leather industry in a variety of countries and in Africa in particular. ...moreFoot and mouth disease: Low automotive demand ‘a blessing’Pretoria, Gauteng, SA – “Obviously FMD has an effect, you only have to look at the meat prices to see that,” said Gerrie de Jager, MD of Brits Leather Group’s Rosslyn Tannery. “All the red tape and protocols for biosecurity associated with FMD add further costs to a stressed market.“Fortunately, the Sta ...moreFungicide launch plannedPort Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA – We are still fortunate to have a solid business in difficult times. But we are positive. Always on the lookout for new opportunities.We do actually have a new fungicide that we are launching. Locally manufactured with international backing, very modern technology. More in the next issue. ...moreWhen textile mills are down, hopefully tanneries are upDurban, KZN, SA – Fredisco Dyes and Chemicals (Pty) Ltd is fortunate to be servicing clients in both the leather and textile industries. With a bit of luck, when one industry does poorly, the other does a bit better! Currently our leather customers seem to be doing well. We have seen strong demand for our leather dyes from tanneries ...moreKeeping it in the familyBoksburg, Gauteng, SA – During 2022/23 my wife fell ill with Covid and we decided to get our daughter, Tania Ellis, involved in the business to enable me to spend more time with Alice. Alice eventually passed away 17th January 2024 after 55 years of married life and as we’re all getting older, I decided to keep Tania on, with ...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 ...moreGrey Street – memories of an 80s GenX cool dude
Jonathan Commons, our webmaster, grew up in the Durban of the 1980s. He has a great affection for the Grey Street outfitters of the era, and he wrote these recollections.Oddly enough the news item about the closure of Jay's Outfitters triggered a bit of nostalgia for the good old days when, as a teenager in the 80s, one could hitchhike do ...moreWayne's Phambili range: Practical boots from non-safety to full protection
Roodepoort, Gauteng, SA – Wayne's Phambili range combines everyday comfort, dependable durability and clearly defined levels of protection in a practical range of PVC work boots. Developed for demanding working environments, the 3-boot lineup makes it easy to choose the protection best suited to the job while delivering the comfort ...more
Leather Industry Articles
- When communication moves faster than truth: Why credible, evidence-based information matters more than ever.We have never had more information at our fingertips. We have also never had to work quite so hard to determine which information we should trust. Communication today moves at extraordinary speed. Social media platforms, digital news, corporate communications, industry reports and, increasingly, artificial intelligence allow information t ...moreISTT offers free entry level leather course to encourage trainingGrahamstown, E. Cape, SA – The International School of Tanning Technology (ISTT) is offering one of its short online courses, Introduction to the Leather Industry, for free.The course is suitable for entry level tannery staff.It is also suitable for anyone in footwear, leather goods, furniture and upholstery manufacturing, retailing ...moreBeyond the data trap: Why better decisions matter more than just more data
On 1st July 2026 I presented at the FILK Leather Days conference and asked the delegates to consider “Sustainability through a new lens: resetting how we view impacts in the leather value chain”. This month’s article therefore explores this idea a little more with a focus on how we view data and whether it can blind us t ...more
PPE Industry Articles
- Indoor air quality monitoring: protecting people, processes, and productivity in South Africa
Indoor air quality (IAQ) is becoming an increasingly important topic across South Africa as industries place greater focus on occupational safety, environmental controls, and operational reliability. While air quality concerns were once mainly associated with mining, heavy industry, or healthcare environments, businesses across multiple s ...moreCONSIDERING A PPE MATRIX
What Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) do we need to have on site to reduce and manage the workplace and environmental exposure risks to our employees?Safety and mining legislation place the responsibility on employers to ensure that they provide and maintain working environments that are safe and without risk to the health on employees ...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 ...more
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