Glodina resumes operations

More than 135 workers back at work following IDC intervention

MAJOR towel manufacturer Glodina Black Label Towelling is back in business following government intervention to save jobs.

Geoffrey Qhena, the chief executive of the Independent Development Corporation (IDC), said this week: “The owners said they were closing it down. We looked at the opportunity it had and the number of people it employed and said we could not allow that.”

More than 135 employees of the 500 who were laid off last year when the company closed shop had since been given their jobs back. More people would be brought in gradually, he said.

The company faced closure last year due to financial cash flow challenges, which sparked fears that its 500 employees would lose their jobs.

Qhena said Sihle Zikalala, the provincial MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (EDTEA ), had requested that the IDC partnered with them to put the company back on its feet.

A multistakeholder task team comprising the EDTEA , Trade and Investment Kwazulu-natal, IDC and the SA Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) was established.

The IDC injected R150 million into Glodina to help revive the business.

Qhena said one of the challenges was that it had taken longer than estimated for the parties to agree with the sellers on price and satisfy the Competition Commission’s requirements that they would not undermine the industry.

“The highlight was seeing the employees coming back with an opportunity to work tirelessly and show that they wanted to work.”

The IDC said it had invested more than R1 billion in various sectors this year, of which 25 percent had gone to the clothing and textile industry.

Zikalala said the towel manufacturer would start exporting some of its products.

Sactwu regional secretary Themba Ngcobo said it was humbling to see jobs created in the sector, which employed many people in Kwazulunatal.