ABOUT US

SAFLEC (South African Footwear & Leather Export Council) is the recognised body representing and promoting the South African footwear, leather, handbags, belts and allied industries in international markets.

SAFLEC strives to ensure that its members register with the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry aligning themselves with the International Labour Organisation rules and regulations.

OUR VISION

We facilitate the growth of exports of South African manufactured leather footwear, handbags, belts and other associated products thereby increasing the growth in the number of exporters. A number of emerging companies are being nurtured and supported by outsourcing components to them and exposing them to the international standards and requirements of exports. Through such growth, it is envisaged that the SME’s will grow in leaps and bounds. Our mission is to globalize South African Footwear, Hand Bags and Belts.

eThekwini Municipality

eThekwini and SAFLEC have joined forces to bring to the eThekwini regional manufacturers, eThekwini Footwear and Leather Cluster aimed at empowering local manufacturers with targeted skills and competencies to enable manufacturing growth and export development.

To read more about this project and benefits included, click here.

MEET OUR TEAM

Chairperson and Vice Chairperson

Tavonga Gonyora
Tavonga GonyoraChairman

Mr Gonyora is a senior fashion retail and manufacturer merchandise & marketing professional with several years management experience and a strong track record implementing robust and profitable retail merchandise strategic and tactical plans.

Experience is predominantly within the retail sector, working at a national level for a major retail group within Africa. He has complimentary exposure in the FMCG sector. Business capabilities include managing and coordinating retail operations, management and the continuous improvement of the merchandise supply chain processes to maximise operational performance and manage costs. Tavonga has branched into manufacturing where he heads up product development, domestic and regional sales and marketing across Africa.

Sanjay Pattundeen
Sanjay PattundeenDirector of Caprini Footwear

Born in 1963, Sanjay found Caprini Footwear in 1992. Caprini Footwear (Pty) Ltd is part of the Palm Group of Companies. Although the majority of products are consumed locally, the company is fast increasing export quantities.

Executive

Nerisha Jairaj
Nerisha JairajExecutive Director

Nerisha Jairaj comes with a BTech Honours in Business Administration and MBA Organisational Behaviour, Strategy and General (ongoing), 20 years of export, procurement and international trade experience.

In August 2014 Nerisha Jairaj joined SAFLEC as the New Executive Manager and was promoted to Executive Director in 2015. Nerisha Jairaj now heads SAFLEC under the guidance of the SAFLEC Board of Directors.

Board

Stuart Hopwood
Stuart HopwoodVice Chairman

Born in 1959, Stuart joined Bolton Footwear as Group Marketing Manager in 2015. Currently Stuart is the Chief Marketing Officer of the Bolton Group with specific responsibility for Group Marketing which includes the Brand marketing, Group marketing and Export Development.

Rolland Eboru
Rolland EboruManaging Executive at Fred Footwear

Born in 1979, Rolland is the Managing Executive at Fred Footwear, a footwear manufacturer and apparel retailer situated in the Eastern Cape. Prior to this Rolland was Head of Products at ICICI International Banking Group – India’s largest private sector Bank. He was also a product specialist at STANLIB Asset Management.

Tven Heyer
Tven HeyerBoard Member, BBF Safety Group

Tven Heyer is a Marketing graduate with an extensive knowledge of brand & retail management, as well as business development, having spent 8 years at Reebok South Africa prior to joining the BBF Safety Group.

During his time at Reebok, he was also responsible for driving business beyond South Africa into some of the neighbouring SADC countries. Tven joined the BBF Safety Group in May 2015, setting-up a fully-fledged Exports Division, whilst further learning the complexities of exports, specifically into Africa.

Voden Wearne
Voden WearneSales Manager Hopewell Footwear

Born in 1976, Voden started his Career in the supply chain and worked his way up in the footwear industry and has a wealth of knowledge from a supply point as well as manufacturing side.

He joined Hopewell Footwear in 2019 and has helped local brands achieve great export volumes with his knowledge and expertise. Voden has worked right through the value chain of leather, machinery, components and consumables. He currently works in Sales and Development at Hopewell Footwear.

Tamburai Chirume
Tamburai ChirumeCo-founder of ONEOFEACH

Tamburai Chirume is the co-founder of the mother and daughter design collaboration, ONEOFEACH – an African luxury brand that focuses on luxury leather and African inspired handbags, fashion accessories, apparel and home decor designed in Cape Town.

She is an award-winning exporter having received South Africa’s exporter of the year to the USA under AGOA in 2021 and again in 2022. Tamburai is a social entrepreneur that is passionate about empowerment, innovation, diversity and transformation. She is the founder of a Nationwide program called the Business of Creative Entrepreneurship supported by the US Embassy of South Africa which coaches and guides creative women business owners to become global players in the market through exporting. The BCE Program has successfully trained over 300 Women since 2018. Tamburai is also a proud 2017 alumna of the African Women Entrepreneur Program run by the U.S.Department of State.

Staff

Prenisha Dukhipersad
Prenisha DukhipersadFinancial Administrator

Prenisha Dukhipersad joined the SAFLEC team in 2016 as the Personal Assistant. She currently holds the position of Finance Administrator. Prenisha is a Bachelor of Commerce graduate majoring in Marketing, Management and Finance.

Priya Ramklawan
Priya RamklawanProject Officer

Priya Ramklawan joined SAFLEC from 1 May 2019 as a Project Officer for the eThekwini Footwear and Leather Cluster.  Priya is a Bachelor of Commerce graduate majoring in Accounting.

Sarah Lissanne Govender
Sarah Lissanne GovenderPersonal Assistant

PA to Executive Director Nerisha Jairaj

Sarah started at SAFLEC on 13 March 2019. Sarah comes from an administration and footwear background.

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Chairman's Report

Read the latest Chairman's Report as well as previous reports.
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