South African Clothing and Footwear Companies to Showcase their Products at Source Africa Exhibition in Cape Town

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will host South African clothing, textiles, leather and footwear companies at the Source Africa exhibition scheduled to take place in Cape Town, Western Cape from 12-14 June 2019. The companies will showcase their proudly South African made products and also participate in a series of workshops and fashion shows.

Source Africa is the premier sourcing event on the African continent which brings together suppliers, manufacturers, service providers and buyers all under one roof. The exhibition also showcases products and services across all aspects of the textiles, apparel and footwear industries.

According to the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Nomalungelo Gina the primary reason for Source Africa is to promote African made apparel, textiles and footwear and to encourage interaction on a regional and international level. She says the event also aims to boost investment into the region and ensure sustainable job creation within the sector.

“The South African textiles and clothing sectors constitute an important sector of South Africa’s economy. In implementing the recommendations and deliverables of the Customised Sector Programme (CSP), the dti has been part of the Source Africa event since inception. Last year the department successfully created exposure and awareness to ten export ready clothing, textiles, footwear and leather companies at the same event,” says Gina.

Gina adds that the clothing sector contributes a larger share of 53% within the total employment in the South African textile, clothing, leather & footwear sectors. She says the clothing sector and others are significantly labour absorbing sectors and that government need to create more opportunities in order to keep it sustainable by creating platforms that will gain them insights on what other countries are doing.

The Clothing and Textiles Competitiveness Programme (CTCP) is an initiative of the dti launched in 2009 to stabilise employment and improve overall competitiveness in the clothing, textiles, footwear, leather and leather goods industries.

The CTCP is aimed at structurally changing these industries by providing funding assistance to invest in competitiveness improvement interventions related to people, process, product, market development and capital equipment.

As at 31 March 2019, the CTCP approved R7.6 Billion to industry and disbursed 86% of this amount since inception. A total of 546 clients were assisted, of this number a total of 356 were Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Through this intervention a total number of 88 301 jobs were saved and a total number of 5408 jobs were created.

Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe-Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: (012) 394 1650
Mobile: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: The Department of Trade and Industry
Follow us on Twitter: @the_dti

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