A turning point for textiles
IF THE South African textile industry is to meet market expectations the entire value chain must stop looking out for its own interests and focus on the interests of the whole sector.
Dicky Coetzee, the chief executive of Gelvenor Textiles, said at the company’s 50th anniversary gala dinner in Durban this week that the textile sector in the country was at a turning point.
“I believe that government – under pressure to create jobs – will have to make moves that could have a significant impact on the entire textile value chain, from the yarn producer all the way to the retailer.”
He said the findings of the national cluster initiative which was under way to produce a new strategy for the industry would require that all players worked together to achieve success.
“It is going to take a lot of courage from the entire value chain to stop looking out for their own interest and to focus rather on the interests of the entire textile industry. But be sure of this; the good stuff is only just beginning now,” he said.
Abisha Tembo, the chief director of Textiles, Leather and Footwear in the Department of Trade and Industry, said the cluster initiative was as a direct result of the stabilisation of the sector.
Jobs
“Employment in the textile industry has stabilised, there are new sustainable jobs, we are exporting and we are not only talking about the garment market.
“Just 33% of the industry is dedicated to the garment industry. A big percentage is made up of technical or engineered textiles. Now we are looking at expanding and being globally competitive. And don’t forget we are talking about the footwear industry as well,” he said.
Tembo said the government, in partnership with industry, was setting targets for both sectors which he said would ensure the country could compete against China, among others.
He also said massive investment had resulted in a revitalisation of Hammarsdale – once the hub of the industry before the 2004 crash – as a special economic zone dedicated to the footwear and textile industries.
The South African textile industry, which once employed almost 300 000 people, collapsed in 2004, resulting in the loss of about 250 000 jobs. Before the 1994 democratic elections the sector was protected from imports. But once apartheid sanctions were lifted and the market was opened to international players such as China, the industry was unable to compete.
Tembo said the industry at that time could not compete on either price or efficiency.
Gelvenor Textiles, which first started production at Hammarsdale in 1965, specialises in technically engineered textiles used for the military, the aeronautical industry and for the outdoors, such as camping and parachute fabric. The company is a key supplier of the fabric used to make bulletproof vests, better known as Kevlar.
Some of the fabrics are exported to Russia for use in its space programme. The US military has used fabrics made at the plant for its armoured vehicles in Afghanistan. The fabrics are also used extensively in the mining industries and the SAPS and army.
Zwelebanzi Mbeje, who has worked at the company – which employs 250 people – for 37 years, said the revitalisation of the industry was critical to poor communities, particularly those adjacent to Hammarsdale.
“When we went through those dark days, we were very concerned, because companies such as Gelvenor were servicing the community. Many people lost their jobs,” he said.
Coetzee said despite the 2004 downturn the company had managed to remain competitive and profitable.
“It took a lot of courage. We continued to invest about R8 million a year in innovation despite what was happening around us.”
He said he had held fast to the philosophy that if the company remained the world leader in at least one product, was a key international supplier in at least one other product, and was involved in innovation to come up with a game changer in at least one product every year, it would survive.
“It takes real courage to develop and successfully produce gamechanging products; the cost and risk of failure is high. And we have to admit, we have failed, many times, but we had the courage to admit our failures. And we have never walked away from any of those failures.”