View full report - Fibre2fashion

further increase in imports from China or a relaxation of conditions on imports. Recent
positive media reports (Tromp, 2006) indicate that China has tentatively agreed to
consider re-evaluating their levels of imports into South Africa; in early 2006, media
reportage indicated movement from the government of China in the sense of willingness
to comply with some measure of import restrictions set out by customer countries (Tromp,
2006).
In June 2006, both China and South Africa stated that an agreement under which “China
will limit its textile and clothing imports” would be implemented imposing quotas on
Chinese imports for the next three years (Hamlyn and Inggs, 2006). Further reports relating
to this agreement indicated that China was going to provide a “donation” of R17.5 million
to help train South Africans in the clothing and textile industries.
South Africa has a clothing and textile training body in the form of the Sector Education
and Training Authority (SETA), which was established on 20 March 2000. In April 2006,
Proudly South Africa (www.proudlysa.co.za) announced that 832 learners had recently
graduated from SETA’s 50 registered learnership positions within the clothing, textile and
leather industries. Of these 832 new graduates, 603 represented the clothing sector, 150
were from textile mills and 79 were from footwear factories, with 75% of the graduates
being women. According to Barnes (2005:6), there is not enough support for SETA
programmes from the industry. It is not clear if China is offering to provide the money
possibly to SETA for training or that China will provide the actual training.
In September 2006, the South African Department of Trade and Industry announced that
the agreement between China and South Africa regarding restrictions on clothing imports
by quota would be effective from 29 September 2006. This caused an outcry from the
large retailers, who claimed that the State’s negotiations with China and decisions taken
by the Department of Trade and Industry had not been transparent, and that enacting
such an agreement with so little notice would result in a price-hike for clothing over the
December period. The South African government relented in the face of these objections,
and announced that the agreement, which affects 31 categories of Chinese-made
apparel, would become effective from 1 January 2007.
In order to maintain their profit margins, the retailers also threatened to place their orders
for cheaper apparel to other countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe,
so as to override the quota restrictions on importations from China. In response, South
Africa’s Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, equated such actions with “treason”
39