The textile industry is seething over the accreditation of a Chinese company by the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS).
Marcus Varoli, the chairman of Mediterranean Textile Mills, said yesterday that the granting of a certificate of approval by the SABS and the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) to a Chinese textile mill for work wear fabric, in turn being imported for use in the mining industry, undermined efforts to revive the textile sector.
“By giving a Chinese textile mill an SABS stamp of approval on their fabrics, you are taking jobs from South Africa to China. It gives a bigger opportunity for China to enter South Africa,” Varoli said.
He said this decision would harm the sector further and give Chinese companies an advantage over local ones.
“We have a serious unemployment problem in the country and the dti is aware of this. In 2009, we were talking about production incentives and now this. Already, the labour rates are cheaper in China and the fabric is R5 or R6 cheaper a metre,” Varoli said.
Varoli said the fabric firm first heard about the application to the SABS six months ago and approached the department to express its concern.
“At first, we (the textile delegation) were told that a junior technician made a mistake, and that something illegal had happened and that legal steps were being taken. We accepted that.
“When we followed up (with the dti), we were told that it was difficult for them to control the SABS because it was self-funding and if it has to go to China to raise the funds, then that is what they will do,” Varoli said.
He quoted the SABS as saying that the Chinese mill had been accredited because it had secured the business and the local companies had not.
The SABS said it would not comment because there were currently discussions on the matter with the industry and the dti and those discussions were at a sensitive stage. The department did not respond to request for comment.
Renato Palmi of Redress Consultancy said: “Here we are trying to create employment, find mechanisms to realign both the clothing and textile sector, and we have the added pressure of the clothing union and the bargaining councils threatening to close factories. But we have the very same government allowing (a) Chinese mill to carry a quality assurance stamp and import textiles. Something is clearly not right and I think the industry needs an explanation.”
Varoli has written to Ebrahim Patel, the Minister of Economic Development, in which he raises a number of issues concerning the textile and the clothing sectors, including the SABS decision. He said the industry wanted to work with the government.
“What we are questioning is: is it prudent to have this situation, is it something that they can rectify or reverse?” Varoli explained.
Zubeida Jaffer, a spokeswoman in the Department of Economic Development, said: “The letter will receive attention from the minister. At this point, it is not appropriate to comment.”