A pair of Johnston & Murphy shoes handmade for the President by Dick Whittington Shoes in Pietermaritzburg. Photo: Supplied.
Durban - Dick Whittington, a shoe manufacturer in Pietermaritzburg is hoping to fill the President’s shoe closet with many more of their hand crafted pairs.
The country’s first citizen flaunted his stylish pair during his State of The Nation address on Thursday and made special mention of it.
In promoting locally manufacturers, President Cyril Ramaphosa said that his genuine leather shoes had been made by members of the National Union of Leather and Allied Workers from Bolton Footwear in Cape Town and Dick Whittington Shoes.
The company based in the Plessislaer area, between the communities of Ashdown township and Imbali has been in existence since 1948. At the time it employed 10 shoe makers who made 30 pairs of shoes per day using the stitch down process.
Today it employs about 410 staff and produces 40 000 pairs monthly.
The company’s name was derived from the English folklore character, Dick Whittington and His Cat.
Tavonga Gonyora, the company’s sales and marketing director, said they took pleasure in presenting the pair of Johnston & Murphy shoes designed by senior designer Santosh Sivechurran. He explained that they had received a special request to make the shoes and they were more than happy to.
“We decided on the type of shoe we wanted to give the President and we thought that a classic Oxford style would be more befitting for the occasion,” he said. “Crafting a great shoe is a slow and patient art and our master shoemakers still practice that art today. Before taking your first step in our handcrafted shoes, they would have gone through over 160 steps in our manufacturing process.”
Gonyora said the Johnston & Murphy brand offers an extensive assortment of handmade formal dress footwear. He added that the president’s pair had been couriered to his office, so it would be ready to be worn during the most important speech.
Sunday Tribune