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SA clothing sector rally for industry's growth

31 May 2010

Caught between the threat of cut-price imports and the scourge of unfair trade practices, the South African clothing industry has had its most inclusive stakeholder meeting to date in Cape Town on 27 May 2010, to thrash out new ideas for shoring up the sector's competitiveness. Also under discussion was the industry's contribution to national interest goals, such as reversing the de-industrialisation of the domestic economy and creating decent jobs.

The historic workshop was hosted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), convening employers, labour and government. Stakeholders in attendance included the Apparel Manufacturers of SA (AMSA), SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU), Department of Economic Development, DTI, Western Cape Provincial Government and IDC.

Johann Baard, executive director of AMSA, says the event was the industry's first ILO-hosted tripartite discussion focused on issues beyond labour market and training. Attendees rallied around the common goal of ensuring growth, protecting employment and devising models against which greater value chain alignment could be secured, he notes.

Establishing working group

Baard reports that the Tripartite Workshop to discuss competitiveness interventions in support of the industry resolved that a small working group be established between AMSA and SACTWU to discuss and put forward projects in support of this goal. Recommendations will correlate with three broad programmes discussed at the workshop:

Policy-level dialogue to promote local sourcing of clothing products by South African retailers;
Establishment of an industry productivity and training function as part of the Clothing Industry National Bargaining Council's value-added services; and
Marketing the South African clothing industry to ethical consumers, focusing on a common commitment to decent work.

"South Africa needs its clothing industry," he says. "It is uniquely positioned to contribute to job creation and poverty alleviation. What is most urgently required for the sector to attain competitiveness, however, is for customs fraud to be brought under control, and for our trade and industrial policies to level the playing field between domestic manufacturers and their competitors in locations such as mainland China."

Andre Kriel, SACTWU's general secretary, acknowledges the South African government's introduction of several measures to assist the industry over the last year. "It is the responsibility of business and labour to take advantage of this by introducing more of its own programmes to secure jobs and grow the industry," he says.