Retailers will move orders offshore due to strike – Palmi, expert

23 Sep '09

5 min read

“Another reason is the lack of a cohesive developmental plan for the industry. The industry is extremely fractured with different sub-sectors pushing their own agenda. The unions are extremely strong, and with the high cost of labour, the unskilled workforce and the unreliability and the high absenteeism rate amongst workers, have made the industry globally uncompetitive. Having said this, it seems that government and industry are working closer to formulate proper policy and a large amount of funds have been allocated to be injected in the industry.

“My concern is that certain sectors of the industry are now chasing the money and within government itself there are not enough qualified people to manage this project and they are pushing their own agenda within the provincial space, which clearly indicates favouritism. Another reason is the lack of knowledge about the importance of the industry for South Africa by the consumers and 'The Buy Local' initiative is a dismal failure, along with which there is also massive fraud taking place in the industry, like illegal imports and under invoicing”.

Next we asked him, as to what according to him, should the government and industry do, to revive the lost glory, to which he replied by saying, “Even though it seems that the industry is in a state of confusion there is hope and so much potential for the industry. The key in my opinion is for the industry to work as a collective for the single goal of growing the industry to what it once was – to work in collaboration with the union to find middle ground and to work with the government.

“We also need more qualified people within the government who are dealing with this sector and since, it is an extremely complex industry and to just have government officials responsible for the reshaping and development of new policies will not work for which a closer collaboration with the apparel sector and the fashion sector is needed.

“A fundamental area is the development of skills. At the moment most school leavers who wish to enter the industry are lured to the fashion side because they see it as glamorous and while we see intake in this sector we see little intake into the important sector of the industry, which is the manufacturing side of textiles and apparels”.

To conclude the interview, we asked him whether the demands of the unions would be met and if not what would be the next course of action, to which he optimistically replied by saying, “The strike will soon be entering its second week and it seems that it is deadlocked and the main area that is preventing any further movement relates to the question of payment for absent workers and I hope for the sake of the collective that an agreement can be found soon”.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India