The threads of South Africa on clothing and textile industry may be set to unravel if sufficient measures are not taken in time. This is as a result of cheaper foreign imports. Government is currently working on a draft proposal in order to rectify the situation.
But many, including the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU), feel that this too little, tool late. This was the crux of the After Eight Debate on SAFM today. According to Ebrahim Patel, the general secretary of the union, the industry could loose as many as 80 000 jobs if appropriate intervention is not taken against China.
The Asian giant has been the bane of many jobs in South Africa and abroad because of its aggressive export policy. Patel says the industry has lost 61 000 jobs three years.
SACTWU, in an attempt to roll back the effect of low cost imports, has developed a number of initiatives to add value and confidence of the local clothing industry. These include initiating the Proudly South African campaign and the annual Cape Town Fashion Festival. The festival which runs until May 1 - showcases SA designers in a bid to promote Proudly SA wear. The theme this year is 'Wear South Africa?
Over one million jobs in danger
However, Patel says that unless SA negotiates with China in a manner that is trade sensitive and protects South African jobs and employs the most amount people, nearly 250 000 direct jobs and over a million indirect jobs would be in danger.
Patel was critical of government for not coming to the trade rescue and for not speeding up talks on the issue. He advised that there had to be an incentive for the Chinese to ease the vast amounts of goods it is sending to South Africa and that trade unions would be forced to invoke Article 16.
The union says there are inadequate levels of investment in the sector and the trade balance between SA and China is R22.7 billion. Other countries like Argentina, Brazil, the EU and the US have all made provisions to protect its markets by restricting import influx or imposing stiffer levies.
Shireen Osman, the director of textile, clothing, leather and footwear at the department of trade and industry said that government has been trying to plot the most beneficial path for South Africa while still looking at the competitiveness of the sector.
Call for government to step in
Jack Kipling, the chairman of the export council for the clothing industry, says the clothing and textile industry is a numbers game and that government has to stop the surge of undervalued imports a soon as possible. He says the industry has serviced South Africans well in the past and there is no reason why this cannot happen again.
Kipling says that if stakeholders do their part to restore faith in the industry, SA macro economy could flourish. South Africa has over 2000 companies in the rag trade. Kipling says that modernisation of the industry did not necessarily mean a loss of jobs and that China was a typical example of this. With the right supply chain management the industry could turn itself around.
Recently, the union saw the signing of an agreement between Patel and Ebrahim Rasool, the Western Cape premier, that committed the provincial government to procuring all clothing from SA.
