The research combined a mapping of retailer demand with a nationwide survey of nearly 200 garment manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its goal was to identify where local demand is strongest, where production capacity already exists, and the conditions required to produce more clothing domestically and expand competitively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The findings suggest that localisation is no longer driven only by government policy or political commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retailers want local supply to help them restock more quickly and adapt to changes more easily. It also protects them from global supply chain stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the report, the industry believes that half of future opportunities lie in t-shirts, denim, and athleisure wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If competitiveness improves, retailers noted that they could source up to 80 million additional garments locally by 2030, worth about R7.9 billion annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That expansion would support more than 34,000 jobs across the clothing value chain \u2014 from fabric production to factory floors and logistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the study also highlighted severe barriers preventing the sector from capturing that opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Large and medium manufacturers identified four primary challenges directly affecting their competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most frequently cited was competition from cheap imports and non-compliant factories. Manufacturers said low-cost or illegally imported clothing, combined with price undercutting by producers who ignore labour and regulatory rules, creates an uneven playing field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enforcement is widely viewed as insufficient, leaving compliant firms to bear higher labour and compliance costs, at a commercial disadvantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second major challenge is a shortage of skills. Many firms lack the technical depth needed to run efficient production lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
70% reported needing support in production management\u2014the function responsible for planning and optimising daily workflows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similar shortages exist in mechanics and technical staff (68%), quality control personnel (67%) and team leaders (66%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, the report noted that 59% lack work-study and industrial engineering expertise required to turn machinery and labour into consistent productivity gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These gaps show that the sector\u2019s problem is not only a lack of machinery or factory space but also operational capability. Many companies simply cannot convert available capacity into competitive output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shein and Temu are a major threat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/textile-manufacturing-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA third concern is rising costs and limited access to capital. Firms face escalating prices for raw materials, labour, energy and fuel, while cash-flow pressures remain constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Import duties on fabrics not produced locally raise production costs further, and companies must invest in backup systems to cope with unreliable electricity and water outages, placing additional strain on already thin margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Infrastructure failures compound the problem. Manufacturers pointed to port inefficiencies, deteriorating roads, crime, high municipal rates, and unreliable water and electricity as daily operational barriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These issues lead to delays, higher logistics costs and repeated disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smaller and micro-scale firms experience similar pressures but from a more fragile financial position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their biggest concern is economic survival, with limited working capital and poor awareness of funding mechanisms, which restrict investment in productivity improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also struggle to meet retailer price and quality expectations due to limited technical and supervisory capacity, while access to markets remains constrained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheap imports pose an especially severe threat to these businesses, with ultra-low-cost platforms such as Shein and Temu cited as undercutting local production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smaller firms lack the economies of scale needed to compete on price. Despite these challenges, the study indicated that the industry could expand significantly if targeted support is implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manufacturers said growth requires coordinated action across several areas. These include productivity improvement programmes, technical skills development, and collaboration across firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stronger enforcement against non-compliant competitors, visa policies that allow scarce technical skills to enter the country, and duty-free textile imports where local alternatives do not exist, where also listed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also call for stronger retailer localisation commitments, better access to public procurement opportunities, export market development, concessional financing for machinery upgrades, and incentives to offset high operating costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research stressed that South Africa\u2019s clothing and textile sector remains motivated and capable, but constrained by systemic barriers rather than a lack of demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the right interventions, companies across all sizes could meet retailer requirements for scale, quality and price, which could create thousands of potential jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Energy costs, crime, poor infrastructure, and unstable electricity and water supply threaten up to 34,000 new jobs across one of South Africa’s major industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":851231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[20689,24767,3387,853],"class_list":["post-851212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bma","tag-localisation-support-fund-lsf","tag-manufacturing","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851212"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851439,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851212\/revisions\/851439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA third concern is rising costs and limited access to capital. Firms face escalating prices for raw materials, labour, energy and fuel, while cash-flow pressures remain constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Import duties on fabrics not produced locally raise production costs further, and companies must invest in backup systems to cope with unreliable electricity and water outages, placing additional strain on already thin margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Infrastructure failures compound the problem. Manufacturers pointed to port inefficiencies, deteriorating roads, crime, high municipal rates, and unreliable water and electricity as daily operational barriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These issues lead to delays, higher logistics costs and repeated disruptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smaller and micro-scale firms experience similar pressures but from a more fragile financial position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their biggest concern is economic survival, with limited working capital and poor awareness of funding mechanisms, which restrict investment in productivity improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also struggle to meet retailer price and quality expectations due to limited technical and supervisory capacity, while access to markets remains constrained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheap imports pose an especially severe threat to these businesses, with ultra-low-cost platforms such as Shein and Temu cited as undercutting local production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smaller firms lack the economies of scale needed to compete on price. Despite these challenges, the study indicated that the industry could expand significantly if targeted support is implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Manufacturers said growth requires coordinated action across several areas. These include productivity improvement programmes, technical skills development, and collaboration across firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stronger enforcement against non-compliant competitors, visa policies that allow scarce technical skills to enter the country, and duty-free textile imports where local alternatives do not exist, where also listed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also call for stronger retailer localisation commitments, better access to public procurement opportunities, export market development, concessional financing for machinery upgrades, and incentives to offset high operating costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research stressed that South Africa\u2019s clothing and textile sector remains motivated and capable, but constrained by systemic barriers rather than a lack of demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the right interventions, companies across all sizes could meet retailer requirements for scale, quality and price, which could create thousands of potential jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Energy costs, crime, poor infrastructure, and unstable electricity and water supply threaten up to 34,000 new jobs across one of South Africa’s major industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":851231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[20689,24767,3387,853],"class_list":["post-851212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bma","tag-localisation-support-fund-lsf","tag-manufacturing","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851212"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":851439,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851212\/revisions\/851439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}