Where Is The Clothing And Textile Industry In South Africa Tomorrow?

In August 14th, South Africa's textile and garment industry was in deep trouble. Recently, it was reported that South Africa will launch a plan of action to help the textile and garment industry in November this year, and it will only be one month from the end of China's import quota in November.

Is it too late to launch the plan?

Is there any adjustment time in the textile and garment industry?

The quota is coming to an end, and the new industry / trade policy or major policy needs to be implemented. There are still 1-2 months left.

South Africa has implemented quota management for Chinese products, but the textile and garment industry and the government have not made use of this time to cooperate with each other, brainstorming, completing or implementing relevant strategic measures.

The Ministry of industry and Commerce (DTI) said it will implement the special industry support program (CSP) at any time.

But this is a cliche.

Still making policies

In March 2006, Shareen Osman of the Ministry of industry and Commerce said that the government was formulating a strategic vision plan.

Two years later, the Ministry of industry and Commerce said they were still working on the plan.

In August 2007, the Minister of industry and Commerce said the plan was about to be completed.

But in August 2006, the South African Textile Alliance said that the CSP had been completed, but the plan could not be implemented because retailers did not support it.

The government has failed to effectively regulate the contradiction between retailers and manufacturers.

The report said that the state will intensify its efforts to crack down on illegal imports. Many manufacturers believe that illegal imports are the biggest threat to industry.

In February 2008, Iqbal Sharma, Vice Minister of industry and commerce, said illegal imports had been eliminated.

The abolition of illegal import policy is a mark of management.

Unfortunately, the survey shows that this policy has not been widely publicized, and there is still a lot of confusion in the fashion industry.

The dilemma of import regulations

There is a welcome part in the report, which is to abolish the tariff of fabrics produced by the non South African Customs Union. But the government proposes to conduct a detailed examination of the import tariff of a large quantity of textiles, which will have a direct impact on the designers of the country. What does the government mean by the abundant quantity?

South African designers have been beset by the diversity of textile products.

If the so-called quantity of textiles is subject to import duties, the importers of textiles will not import small quantities of fabrics, and the needs of South African designers will not be satisfied.

Taking into account factors such as wage increases, trade union protests, low productivity, economic downturn and so on, can the new policy provide space for manufacturers to produce cost effective clothing?

Can the new policy solve the so-called "tick syndrome"?

That is, policies and plans have been implemented, but they have no obvious impact on the textile and garment industry. They use the above factors to open up a backdoor for the policy executors, thereby avoiding the accusation of industrial development.

It remains to be seen how the development of the South African textile industry is going to happen.