Since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the clothing and textile manufacturing industry has been severely impacted by laissez-faire or free trade policies which allow for the importation of goods.
A manufacturing report published by Statistics South Africa last month shows that between 2005 and 2021, just over 121,000 jobs in the textile and clothing industry were lost.
The figure by StatsSA attached below shows that the clothing and textile industry’s curve is pitched at the steepest angle, after losing more than two-thirds of its workforce in the 16 year period.
The petroleum and chemical industry was the only sector to have increased in employment numbers.
But the clothing and textile industry statistics provided by StatsSA may not be entirely accurate, because the footwear and leather industry are often not taken into account, according to Michael Shabalala from The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (Sactwu).
But job losses since 2005 surpass 120,000 employees, largely because of local companies choosing to outsource their manufacturing needs to overseas companies and also the hiring of undocumented foreign nationals, Shabalala explained.
Shabalala said the clothing and textile industry has been under attack ever since South Africa’s borders were opened after apartheid, which allowed companies to import cheaper quality goods from outside South Africa, and avoid paying the minimum wages to locals.
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ebrahim Patel did well to help push for the promulgation of the local procurement accord, which helped the country tighten its grip on imports by imposing a tax on them, the Sactwu National organising secretary said.
But since then, private companies have decided to continue with the hiring of foreign nationals to avoid abiding by labour laws and bargaining council rules in terms of wages and working conditions.
Shabalala said this is where government departments need to step in and enforce, but have failed to do so.
“We are a trade union. We cannot overstep our authority. There are departments within our government who need to step up and make sure the rules are being enforced.
“The problem is that these companies have started to shift from the usual CC and Pty (LTD)’s into what is known as ‘worker conveyances’. For instance, if we go to a private company and ask why they employ foreign nationals only, they say they do not own the company and, therefore, are not guided by labour laws. They say they ‘are conveyancers of the workers' needs’,” Shabalala said.
“There are lots of bogus companies that operate like this in Newcastle, KZN, Qwa Qwa, in the Free State, as well as Clairwood and Durban Central,” he said.
Shabalala said the union will continue to weed out these companies that seek to go against legislation that is meant to protect the dignity and rights of South African workers.
Sactwu is expected to visit more companies within the Durban metropolitan area which it believes are in contravention of the country’s labour laws.
IOL