South African Textile & Clothing Sector Creates 20,000 Jobs

More than 20 000 jobs have been created in the past five years since the clothing, textile, footwear and leather (CTFL) industry’s master plan was launched in South Africa.

This was reported to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel by stakeholders at a meeting in Cape Town on Thursday.

Major retailers have sourced 371 million more units of clothing items from local manufacturers over the same period, a 51 percent increase on the baseline of units bought locally.

The volume of garments imported from China has dropped in major apparel categories, and the value of the clothing imported increased, showing success in the fight against under-invoicing.

“According to a statement by the department, these figures were released at a meeting at the Prestige Clothing factory,” SA News reported.

“Over this period, we have been able to take an industry which had been decimated by imports and low investment, and stabilise it through the collaboration and partnership with the master plan,” Patel said.

“These efforts have built a platform which has led to increased local procurement; increased employment; and better administration of imports at the country’s ports of entry,” Patel told the media.

The master plan was developed with the consensus of stakeholders in the sector and included undertakings in place by retailers to increase their procurement of locally manufactured CTFL products.

Manufacturers committed to increasing investment in productive capacity, while building manufacturing ecosystems to advance transformation and inclusion, and advance worker empowerment.

Workers in the sector committed to efforts to strengthen the industry and promote the Buy South African campaign in communities.

The government also committed to strict customs enforcement to stem illegal imports, a competitiveness enhancement incentive program and implementation of appropriate CTFL tariffs.

“The decrease in imported volumes, accompanied by increasing declared values is great news for the industry and jobs,” Patel stated.

“It means that we are making progress to levels where imported clothing and footwear are being declared at their fair prices,” the Minister informed.

“The industry has faced systematic import fraud through under-invoicing of garments and their illegal import,” he noted.

“This has the effect of unfairly pricing imports below their market value and depriving the country of revenue for healthcare, education and crime-prevention,” he observed.

The government has provided R2.5 billion to the industry through the Clothing, Textiles, Footwear, and Leather Growth Program (CTFLGP) to improve its competitiveness and productivity.

In addition, R4.4 billion in loan capital has been provided by the Industrial Development Corporation to help increase productivity and meet increasing local demand.

The South African CTFL sector now employs more than 500,000 people, which includes 250,000 manufacturing jobs and more than 280,000 retail jobs.