About Us
About Orthopaedic Suppliers
Wholesale Division
Our Wholesale Division is responsible for the marketing of our imported and locally produced products.
Export Department
Supporting Orthotic and Prosthetic Practitioners in neighbouring Southern Africa Countries
Product Development
Keep abreast with new technology and provide Technical and Clinical Consulting Services.
Orthopaedic Suppliers has grown steadily over the years to become a premier Orthotic and Prosthetic Wholesale Facility in Southern Africa. We are a founder member of A.O.P.P.P. (Association of Orthotic and Prosthetic Private Practitioners), now South African Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (S.A.O.P.A.), and a member of the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce.
For over 200 years the Dutch and then the English brought their own Orthopaedic Technicians with them.
1867
Victoria College in Cape Town had the first permanent Orthopaedic Workshop in South Africa
1885
A second workshop started in Stellenbosch
1917
A committee was established to formalize training in Stellenbosch
1938
The National Council for the Care of Cripples (NCCC) investigates the state of Orthopaedic Services in the Union of South Africa
What happened after 1938?
Representation is made to Lord Nuffield and in 1941 ₤100,000 is allocated for the formal establishment and training of Orthopaedic Surgeons and Orthopaedic Technicians. Mr. Aldo Bachetti, a former European Middle-weight boxing champion came to South Africa from Italy in 1945 just after the Second World War on a Government Immigration Incentive Program and first worked at the Government “Limb Factory” in End Street, Johannesburg.
In 1965, Mr. Bachetti left the “Limb Factory” and opened Orthopaedic Suppliers one block away on the corner of Bree and Nugget Streets, making it the fourth private “Orthopaedic Workshop” in Johannesburg. To date, Orthopaedic Suppliers is the longest surviving Orthotic and Prosthetic company still trading under it’s original name.
In 1967 Mr. Bachetti decided to go back to Italy for family reasons and Mr. Frank Dreyer and Mr. Mark Hancock purchased Orthopaedic Suppliers Pty. Ltd from him. In 1969, Mr. Ted Greene (the Son of the owner of Unites States Manufacturing Company—USMC) had just arrived in Johannesburg on an overland trip from Cairo to Cape Town and noticed the Orthopaedic Suppliers sign and decided to pay them a visit. At the end of the meeting it was arranged that Orthopaedic Suppliers would represent USMC in South Africa and this started the wholesale side of Orthopaedic Suppliers.
In 1972, Mr. Hancock sold his share of Orthopaedic Suppliers to Mr. Dreyer and moved to Durban where he opened his own Orthopaedic Workshop. In 1987 Mr. Dreyer decided to emigrate to Australia with his family and sold his interest to a consortium of six Orthotic and Prosthetic practitioners managed by Mr. Errol Lishman.
Over the years, all the consortium members were bought out leaving Mr. Lishman as managing member and Mr. Giel Bezuidenhout as managing financial officer. In 1989 the existing patient-care facility was sold off and Orthopaedic Suppliers became a pure Orthotic and Prosthetic wholesale company. Since 1988, Mr. Lishman and his team added many other quality agencies to the portfolio of companies represented.
In 2003, Mr. Lishman bought Mr. Bezuidenhout out and the company was owned by Mr. Errol Lishman (managing), Mrs. Ann Lishman (administration), Mrs. Carla Potgieter (marketing) and Mrs. Antoinette Singh (stock control). In September 2003 Mr. Lishman left Orthopaedic Suppliers to pursue a yachting career leaving Mrs. Ann Lishman as Managing Member. In January 2015 Mr. Craig Lishman opened a branch in Cape Town to provide Technical and Clinical backup service. In 2022 Mrs. Antoinette Singh retired from the company, and Mr. Craig Lishman became a Member.”
