Did you know that on average approximately 45% of revenue spent at a locally owned business stays in the local community?

By shopping locally, you support your neighbors, you help local shop owners and manufacturers get by in times of crisis, you help strengthen the very economy that can benefit you directly.

Why Shop Local?

Lasher LOVES local production! We are passionate about sustaining the South African economy and its people. Our goal is to create as many jobs as possible inside the South African economy to help our beautiful country grow, while exemplifying the premium quality goods that we can produce locally. Therefore, Lasher decided to purchase two exceptional tool engineering companies and brands – Vicker and Okapi.

Okapi

Okapi has a rich history dating back over 100 years to Solingen, Germany. Solingen is known as the “City of Blades,” since it is renowned for manufacturing fine swords, knives and cutlery. It was there that the first Okapi knives were produced for the German colonies throughout Africa. In the late eighties, Okapi South Africa purchased the trademark and started making knives on local South African soil.

Today, Okapi is proudly owned by Lasher Tools. We make sure that these iconic pocket and cane knives stay within local manufacturing. Our intention is to hold the Okapi name in good stead and keep its legacy going!

Vicker

Vicker was started in the early 1940’s in South Africa by Isaac Mijon, who used his engineering knowledge to make products based on the needs of the local market. Brick trowels were the first builders’ tools that he made, and the company expanded the line from there.

In 2019, Lasher made the decision to purchase Vicker. We have been sure to keep manufacturing in South Africa. Vickers’s premium specialised products for the building industry have enhanced Lasher’s existing range of tools. We are grateful for how this acquisition has supported us in offering such an expanse of premium locally made products!

With an unwavering local is lekker mindset, Lasher Tools will keep Okapi and Vicker Tools alive and locally made. We’ll hold these established brands in high esteem, ensuring that their premium quality is maintained, and that our beloved local economy benefits from the creation and distribution of these tools.

We’d like to encourage all South Africans to buy local. The difference you make to an entrepreneur’s life, an employee’s life and your own economy when you do so is massive. Everybody’s purchasing choices have life-changing effects so let’s be lekker about them!