Press release
Pretoria, Gauteng, SA (21 December 2022) – Customs officers of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have seized possible counterfeit shoes (sneakers and sandals) with an estimated value of R3-milliion this past weekend.
      The Customs Detector Dog Unit (DDU) at the Lebombo border post with Mozambique searched a truck with two trailers entering South Africa. The DDU found 5237 pairs of various branded (possibly counterfeit) shoes and sandals. The items were found loaded in the back of the trailers of the truck.
      The shoes were handed over to the South African Customs State Warehouse for further processing and engagement with the relevant brand holders for confirmation of the authenticity of the items.
      SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter praised the Customs officers and the DDU for their vigilance in preventing illicit and counterfeit goods from entering the country. “The lawful production of clothing and textile industry in the country needs to be supported and SARS has shown once again that it is playing its part to foster industrial growth and job creation.”
      Mr Kieswetter added that SARS is determined to give meaning to its strategic objectives of making non-compliance hard and costly for any person who transgresses the law. “While we have made it easy and simple to comply, we will not tolerate criminals and syndicates that impede the economic prosperity of our country and the well-being of our citizens.”

Readers will note that most respondents this week are from the Western Cape. This is probably because I emailed Western Cape retailers earlier on Saturday than retailers in KZN and Gauteng. I will attempt to get responses from a much wider geographical spread this week for the newsletter to come out on Tuesday next week.

Peter Allen, Burton's/Monson's
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – December trading has been satisfactory so far. Despite load shedding constraints we are achieving positive growth on last year.


Martin Cohen, L. Cohen Outfitters
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – The first half of December has not been good. Second half has improved but on the whole disappointing. 


Barry Selby, The Athlete's Foot
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – December trading and traffic in Cape Town is back to the norm we  experienced last in December 2019 so turnover  is up. This has been aided by the weak Rand (for overseas tourists ) and buoyed up by the  increased numbers of Johannesburg customers who have made Cape Town their destination of choice.


Greg Bing, A.P. Jones
Cape Town, W. Cape, SA – Having been affected by a drought, a failing economy and Covid over the past 5 years or so, we are definitely starting to feel an upswing in the market. We are up for both November and December so far. This trend started with the lifting of the mask ban in early July 2022.
      It would appear that we have broken the “R1000 barrier” and our ladies department is selling dresses at this price point and beyond for the first time in a while.
      Very happy with results at this stage, but feet are firmly on the ground as things could change very quickly if the wrong leadership comes in to power.
      I think that it would be safe to say that, if we did not have load shedding cocking everything up, we would be ecstatic under the circumstances.


Imran Lockhat, Famous Shoes
Durban, KZN, SA – No fireworks. Trade like any normal month in the year.


Lloyd Naidoo, Best Shoes
Pietermaritzburg, KZN, SA – December trading has been on par with last year's sales thus far. Very little hawker trade as generally expected. Most of our hawkers stop buying in November. Some hawkers returned after 2 years as their businesses were badly affected. We were fortunate to have some locals and holiday makers visit the Failsworth/Manchester Road area looking for bargains over this past weekend. The poor trading conditions have affected everyone here and we're just ticking over. There's very little disposable income for the low-to-middle income earners to spend on clothing and footwear. With all the financial and political challenges our country faces, we're choosing to remain optimistic for 2023.


Naseem Essack, Brandz
Port Shepstone, KZN, SA – Unfortunately, trading has been adversely affected by the load shedding.
      Stage 6 load shedding especially with 4 hour sessions has a detrimental effect on sales as credit card sales are impacted due no connectivity.
      Load shedding couldn't have come at a worse time.

Johannesburg, Gauteng, SA (15 December 2022) – Consumers face an expensive braai season as they enter the December festive with meat inflation at the highest level for this period since November 2017 when it reached 14.9% y/y.
      What underpins the current strength in meat prices? A combination of factors have been at play including the tight supplies due to the pedestrian livestock slaughter, reduced imports of chicken amid higher prices, and the surprisingly resilient consumer demand despite tough economic conditions with the consumer’s financial welfare under strain.
      In addition, livestock producers faced enormous cost pressures emanating from a surge in raw feed input prices that necessitated the cost recovery as profit margins were severely squeezed.
      The price of maize, a major ingredient in feed manufacturing, has so far increased by 43% and 28% y/y for the white and the yellow maize respectively to an average R4,989/ ton and R4,837/ ton. The price of soybeans, a major source of plant protein in livestock feed, so far averaged R10,561/ ton which is 39% higher y/y.
South Africa’s November 2022 consumer price inflation (CPI) surprised on the downside to 7.4% year-on-year (y/y) from 7.6% September, but was still off the 2022 peak of 7.8% y/y reached during July, according to recent data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA). The monthly CPI slowed by 0.3% month-on-month (m/m) in November from 0.4% m/m the previous month.
      After steadying in October, the food CPI rebounded by 0.5 percentage points in November 2022 to 12.8% y/y and still the highest level since April 2009 but decelerated by 0.5% m/m 0.9% higher month-on-month (m/m).
In contrast, the global food price inflation as measured by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) slowed significantly from the 2022 high of 34% y/y in March to just 0.3% y/y in November 2022 with the monthly prices remaining in negative territory for the past eight consecutive months at -0.1% m/m. Prices were down across the cereals, the dairy, and meat categories which more than offset gains in the vegetable oils and sugar.
      Within the SA’s food CPI subindex, the November meat CPI steadied but still reached the highest level in fourteen months at 10.5% y/y.
      A deep dive into the meat CPI data shows that beef T-bone steak surged by 18% y/y in at R135.48/kg, followed by brisket and chuck with increases of 11.8% and 10.4% respectively y/y. In the pork category, pork ribs and fillet posted modest gains of 3.9% and 2.8% y/y at R94.59/kg and R104.62/kg. However, pork chops fell by 3.8% y/y at R89.55/kg. Lamb chops rose by 4.8% y/y to R195.55/kg. For chicken, prices were up across most categories with an increase of 7.2% at R63.85/kg for fresh whole birds while the individually quick frozen (IQF) 2 kg chicken portions rose by 5.1% y/y at R86.69.
      Nonetheless, we expect some reprieve for consumers early in the New Year as the lower seasonal demand post the December holidays in a tight economic environment with costs of electricity and transport still elevated likely to place downward pressure on meat prices.

Durban, KZN, SA  – December trading so far "has been on the downside" by comparison with last year, said Ashika Dhanampal of men's boutique Fellows Boutique in the CBD. She said Black Friday had also been a disappointment. "We were expecting fireworks, but it was just like a normal Friday," she said.


Dave Vallabh, Bilimoria Fishing Tackle
East London, E. Cape, SA - Slow start - probably slower than last year! But it is still early days - should get better!


Afzel Tajbhai, Pakistan Trading Company
Lobatse, Botswana - Trading has generally been tough since May this year. December has been no different, yes trade is better than other months but the trend is the same in comparison with previous years, 30+ % down.
        Botswana is over-traded with branded merchandise and I don’t see how money can be made on them for much longer.
        Fingers crossed that things will improve.


Khalid Anwary, Anwary's
Butha-Buthe, Lesotho - Been very quiet. Had a good Black Friday.


Port Elizabeth, E. Cape, SA – December trading so far is "not good at all", said Umesh Mitha, member of men's branded lifestyle retailer Bad Street Boyz, which has 4 stores.       "Black Friday was very good," he said, "but I don't think it has impacted on December. The problem is disposable income - or the lack of it. People want the product, there's no shortage of customers, but after they've bought food, there's not enough left, even for lay-byes. I used to ask for 10% up front for lay-byes - now I'll take R50 because at least I know they'll be back."
      He said the problem lay with government's handling of the economy and infrastructure. "Load shedding costs me a fortune, but to install generators for my stores would cost about R1 million - with business as it is, how do I justify that, even if the banks will lend me that? They want R3 million in assets to lend you R1 million.
      "This is a wonderful country, and I've been to lots of others, but it's being messed up, and friends in other industries tell me they are having exactly the same problems."

Denver, USA (05 December 2022) – VF Corporation today announced that Benno Dorer, Lead Independent Director of the VF Board of Directors, has been named Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Richard Carucci, a director on the Board since 2009, will serve as Interim Chairman of the Board.
      Dorer’s appointment follows Steve Rendle’s decision to retire from his position as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The company has commenced a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and has retained a leading executive search firm to support its evaluation of internal and external candidates.

FY23 Financial Outlook
VF is revising its FY23 outlook largely to reflect the impact of weaker than anticipated consumer demand across its categories, primarily in North America, which is resulting in a more elevated than expected promotional environment as well as order cancellations in the wholesale channel to manage trade inventories. Also impacting the outlook, but to a lesser degree, are the higher than expected impacts from inflation on consumer discretionary spending in Europe and ongoing COVID-19 related disruption in China.
      VF now expects total revenue growth in the second half of FY23 to be modestly lower than previously outlined, with revenue for the full year expected to increase 3% to 4% in constant dollars (excluding the impact of translating foreign currencies into U.S. dollars), compared to the previous guidance of up 5% to 6% in constant dollars. The promotional environment, primarily in North America, and SG&A deleverage from lower volumes are expected to impact profitability in the near term. Adjusted diluted EPS for the full year is now expected to be $2.00 to $2.20, versus $3.18 in the prior year and compared to the previous outlook of $2.40 to $2.50. Adjusted amounts exclude transaction and deal related activities, costs related to specified strategic business decisions, noncash impairment charges, and a pension settlement charge.
      VF remains committed to its FY27 long-term targets and capital allocation priorities, as outlined during its recent Investor Day on September 28, 2022, and is focused on executing against its strategy in order to drive strong long-term shareholder value and on improving near-term performance.