Elections good for large and small

According to branding companies canvassed by the FM, printing shops are working to capacity, with suppliers small and large benefiting.

The ANC alone has ordered around 2 million T-shirts ahead of the polls, according to reports. It had 300 000 printed prior to the 2004 elections. The DA has printed 150 000 at about R20/shirt. If the ANC pays the same rate, it will have spent R40 million on campaign T-shirts alone.

John Thorpe, MD of one of SA's biggest T-shirt printers, High Tide, says election campaigning means local firms cannot get stock of blank shirts. Political parties left their orders to the last minute, soaking up all the local supplies. “We warned them in October last year [that they needed to place orders].” But High Tide has prioritised its regular customers. One supplier who asked to remain unnamed says the orders are great for business, particularly because they benefit all participants — both small and large. He also says little consideration is given to empowerment. This is because a party will place an order with one of the bigger T-shirt printers, which then subcontracts what it can't fill to smaller players, who might then get even smaller firms to help with their slice of the order.

Another thread to the story is where the T-shirts come from. A supplier says about 90% of the blank garments arrive on ships from China and India. Thorpe says the percentage might not be quite that high: “That's the business — why would you pay R30 for local goods when you can pay R15 for imports?” The irony is parties like the ANC shout loud about job creation. Buying T shirts from China doesn't back this up.

“We are not aware in all instances where the T-shirts were sourced from,” says spokesman Jessie Duarte. “The identification of suppliers is informed by considerations of cost, capacity, empowerment credentials and ability to deliver on time.”

Financial Mail
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