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By the 1950s, Durban was the specialised region in South Africa for the production of shirts and pyjamas. A survey of the Durban clothing industry in 1969/70 found that out of 160 clothing firms, less than 10 were involved in the fashion higher-end market (Netshitomboni, 1996:83). The Natal Bargaining Council’s July 2006 list cites that there are 379 registered manufacturers and cut-make-and-trim (CMT) suppliers within KwaZulu-Natal, providing 32 060 jobs, an increase of 8 060 since 1996. A total of 99 companies have more than 50 workers, placing them in the framework of medium-sized business and the remainder are registered as small and micro-enterprises. There are two independent fashion designers listed as having their own registered manufacturing plants and employing a total of 37 people. Subcontracting within the clothing industry is not new. Evidence shows that clothing was being assembled in “non-factory premises at very low wages” according to Barker (1961) and the competition was fierce for contracts amongst these operations that were mostly owned by Indians (Neshitomboni, 1996:80). The effects of cheaper imports were first experienced in the Durban clothing industry after the 1948 Customs Union between South Africa and Southern Rhodesia was implemented. According to Katze (1961), the Rhodesian clothing industry imported partly made garments from India, completed the manufacturing process in their own factories and exported the finished products to South Africa. In 1955, after extensive pressure from the clothing industry, the South African government introduced levies against imports from Rhodesia (Netshitomboni, 1996:84). In the 1960s, Durban saw a proliferation of small operations that had endured through the circumnavigation of labour laws - by employing fewer than three workers. By 1970, Indians owned the majority of clothing operations in Durban, these being identified as CMTs. Over the years, the demography of workers in Durban changed rapidly. By 1955, according to Katzen (1961), white workers accounted for less than five per cent, while Indian and Coloured workers had risen to 89 per cent. In 1936, there were 549 white workers in the industry compared to 783 Indians and 80 Africans. In 1969, the industry reflected 467 white workers compared to 17 580 Indians and 2 808 African workers. Statistics reflect that between 1970 and 1991, a surge of white workers emerged, with 1 391 whites working in the industry in 1991, 22 023 Indians (with women being the most 22
prominent in this group) and 14 246 Africans (Barker; Katzen and Young cited by Neshitomboni, 1996:87). By 1985, the clothing and textile industry in Durban had become one of the main industries for employment. Figures reflect that one in every five industrial workers in the Greater Durban Area was employed in the clothing industry. The implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme and the rise of cheaper imports brought pressure on the industry in Durban, which resulted in the shredding of labour as a mechanism to drive down production costs in the battle against Asian imports. Between 1982 and 1991, the former South African government attempted to boost industrial development by creating the Regional Industrial Development Programme (RIDP), through which firms received subsidies to relocate to the identified decentralised areas such as Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, but according to Altman, (as cited by Westhuizen, 2003: 36), these policies were not successful, as the industry remained uncompetitive and the reorganisation of production in the relocated factories proved difficult. South Africa’s trade liberalisation and the impact of globalisation, as well as the huge loss of employment and closures of clothing operations not only locally but nationally, resulted in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government realising that some cohesive intervention was necessary to identify strategic and collaborative mechanisms for upscaling any potential for competitive advantage. In the regional context, there is evidence that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government is attempting to assist local industry. According to Barnes (2005), a clothing cluster was launched within KZN on 1 August 2005, establishing four steering committees to facilitate the project with a Sector Business Support Centre based in Newcastle (KZN Department of Economic Development, 2005). Recent media <strong>report</strong>s (Inggs, 2006k), stated that Mr Price would join Edcon, Foschini, Truworths and Woolworths in this cluster. Local clothing manufacturing bodies, such as the Northern KwaZulu-Natal Clothing Association, tried to block new labour regulation initiated by the State in 2005 that required clothing manufacturers in non-Metro areas to increase wages, claiming that it would have detrimental effects for both the industry and workers. In February 2006, it was <strong>report</strong>ed in the media that six factories in Northern KwaZulu–Natal had not opened their factories, resulting in 250 people losing their jobs. Another company, 23
Page 2 and 3: Declaration This study represents t
Page 4 and 5: Abstract A fundamental change in th
Page 6 and 7: 8.10 Comments on the Clothing Indus
Page 8 and 9: CHAPTER ONE Introduction A Sicilian
Page 10 and 11: esearch on the global clothing and
Page 12 and 13: 2.2 The Global Industry - post-2005
Page 14 and 15: they are starting to go back home,
Page 16 and 17: Fashion is acknowledged as a vital
Page 18 and 19: fashion designers cope with these u
Page 20 and 21: natural fibres: wool and cotton; ot
Page 24 and 25: Lu Jean Clothing, closed its operat
Page 26 and 27: Due to South Africa being a middle-
Page 28 and 29: pivotal role in sustaining and deve
Page 30 and 31: This table shows that there are far
Page 32 and 33: Late in 2004, SACTWU reported that
Page 34 and 35: Basic Conditions of Employment Act
Page 36 and 37: environments, the erratic payment o
Page 38 and 39: A feature that is advantageous to C
Page 40 and 41: (Mokopanele, 2006). Deputy Minister
Page 42 and 43: Figure Three Profits before tax R m
Page 44 and 45: Further import figures collaborate
Page 46 and 47: share the space, none showed any in
Page 48 and 49: CHAPTER FIVE The South African Fash
Page 50 and 51: eiterated the need for local manufa
Page 52 and 53: women owners of the South African l
Page 54 and 55: 5.4 China’s entry into high-end f
Page 56 and 57: 6.1 Introducing the Value Chain CHA
Page 58 and 59: developed. Apparel operations can u
Page 60 and 61: “ripple effects back into manufac
Page 62 and 63: Rogerson endorses this view thus: T
Page 64 and 65: in their designs. Embellishment als
Page 66 and 67: een very little formal research on
Page 68 and 69: The owner of a new retail outlet in
Page 70 and 71: critical resource for profiling Dur
Page 72 and 73:
8.1 Introducing the Designers CHAPT
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In addition, they have not embraced
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from international magazines and ev
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Peter Bosman (Interview: 3/7/06) Bo
Page 80 and 81:
Another critical success factor is
Page 82 and 83:
with fabric, and colour co-ordinati
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dictated by the buyers. This behavi
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to protect their own business inter
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clothing designs, and questions how
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manufactured off-shore and resellin
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Iqbal (Interview, 18/7/06) was outr
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These events run concurrently betwe
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support from buyers for retail outl
Page 98 and 99:
formulate collective approaches to
Page 100 and 101:
can advertise their latest designs
Page 102 and 103:
due to their ability to manufacture
Page 104 and 105:
and textile suppliers need to focus
Page 106 and 107:
With regard to suppliers and the ma
Page 108 and 109:
divisive environment prevails in th
Page 110 and 111:
9.2 Suppliers Policy Recommendation
Page 112 and 113:
9.5 Cluster Initiatives The cluster
Page 114 and 115:
would also create business opportun
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shackled to either the large retail
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Appendix One Letter by the research
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endorsement by economic giants such
Page 122 and 123:
Primary Interviews with Designers S
Page 124 and 125:
"There should also be more engageme
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References Ascol, Nina. 2004. The G
Page 128 and 129:
Fakude, Gordon. 2000. ‘Informalis
Page 130 and 131:
Naidu, Sanusha. 2005. ‘South Afri
Page 132 and 133:
Vlok, Etienne. 2006. ‘The Textile
Page 134 and 135:
Robbins, Tom. 2006. ‘SA fashion d
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