SA's clothing and textile industry caught between global trade, local development

Daily Maverick

4 days ago

The industry remains heavily reliant on imports from China. As trade imbalances persist, local manufacturers and circular economy advocates are working to rebuild domestic production capacity.
South Africa is dressing itself in imported cloth, and most of it has a 'made in China' label.
At the Allfashion Sourcing exhibition in Cape Town's International Convention Centre, local and international players across the clothing and textile value chain were brought together to showcase their products and business ideologies.
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One couldn't help but notice a skewed balance, tilting decidedly east. Of the 142 exhibitors listed on its website, 71 are Chinese companies. From fabric suppliers to accessory makers, China's footprint was everywhere, reinforced by the presence of Chinese diplomats and state-linked industry delegations.
That overwhelming presence brings into sharper focus a longstanding trade dynamic in this sector that continues to shape South Africa's local fashion economy.
The numbers don't lie
In 2024, South Africa exported R19.4-billion worth of textiles, data from The Observatory of Economic Complexity shows. Of that, R4.07-billion went to China.
It doesn't seem like a significant slice of the pie, until you look at the inflows – imports in this sector totalled R65.4-billion, and nearly half of that came from China. The result is a trade deficit that makes it clear who is dressing whom.
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This is part of a much larger trend, according to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). Since 2000, South Africa has sent a staggering R2-trillion more to China than it received in overall exports. In March 2025 alone, the textile trade gap widened again: exports at R2.22-billion, imports at R4.85-billion — and China topped both categories.
'Many of the local producers, they need to import certain components, be it zippers, or buttons, or even highly specialised textiles that are not made in South Africa – (these products) are not made in Africa,' said Michael Dehn, managing director of global trade fair organiser Messe Frankfurt, which hosted the Allfashion trade show.
There are parts of the production chain that South Africa doesn't – and can't – make. 'There are only a handful of major manufacturing countries,' Dehn said. 'China is one of them. Of course, you have India, Bangladesh, Turkey and so on, but these are the main suppliers globally.'
Tariffs, Trump and Trojan horses
Amid the mess of trade imbalances comes a shiny, diplomatic olive branch. China recently announced a zero-tariff policy on all product lines for 53 African nations, including South Africa.
Against the backdrop of Trump's most recent tariff tantrum (a 30% duty hike on South African imports to the US), this almost feels like a lifeline. Almost.
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China's pitch is simple: open access, deeper trade and 'more business opportunities and broader market access', as Tang Chang'an, Chinese deputy consul, put it. 'This will play a positive role in promoting the development of the local economy and job creation,' he said.
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Since 2014, South Africa's overall imports from China have been nearly double that of the value exported, writes ISS research consultant Marvellous Ngundu. 'Importing manufactured goods, particularly clothing, electronics and other consumer products, crowds out South African industries.'
The Cape Town compromise
Faith Kolala, head of investment and trade at the City of Cape Town, acknowledges that the city has a big part to play in revitalising the industry.
He reported a concerted drive headed by the city to expand local production, support producers in townships and roll out skills development pathways. 'We are working with industry bodies to ensure that this sector, the clothing and textile sector, thrives in the face of global uncertainty,' he said.
Precisely because of the many uniquely South African challenges the industry has faced, like load shedding and import duties, the local clothing and textile industry should be 'comfortable and confident' that it will come out on top, he added.
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'Cape Town and the wider southern African region are not just nodes of the global supply network any more. We are trusted suppliers, unique design voices and an expanding ecosystem of businesses, township manufacturers, and youth-driven innovation.'
Globalisation has forced the clothing and textile sector to think differently about sourcing and collaboration, Kolala said. 'It's not about importing or sourcing, it's about collaboration nowadays,' he said, hinting at South Africa's trade alliance with China.
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The worth of waste
Parallel to these global entanglements, innovation is sprouting in unlikely places among South African designers, an example of which can be found in Natasha Pearce, founder of Vivacious Eco Vixon.
She has worked in the clothing industry for more than two decades, and instead of importing, she intercepts waste – offcuts, zips, surplus threads – and transforms them into upscale lifestyle products. Pearce is also upskilling communities. Her team, largely women from poverty-stricken areas, learn practical sewing and design skills.
She describes her design process with a kind of reverence. 'The fabric speaks to me… I don't design a range based on a trend, I design a range based on the fabrics that I get in.'
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Her gripe is that waste is an afterthought in this industry and not engineered out from the start. She works with big interior design houses such as Hertex, salvaging sample books and discontinued materials for her products.
Green capital and local hands
Part of Pearce's work is funded by Nedbank's green economy fund, which supports entrepreneurs who are moving towards circularity, offering concessionary loans and de-risk grants to prove that waste can, in fact, be a business model.
'Partners that we fund have programmes that are designed to educate entrepreneurs around sustainability, secularity and the green economy,' said Maluta Netshaulu, head of the social impact portfolio development at Nedbank.
The supply chain also needs people with sewing skills, design sense and line management expertise. Thandeka, a skills training NGO, is stepping in to bridge this gap. The NGO offers a range of learnerships and job placements in the clothing and textile industry.
'It's all about creating jobs in South Africa,' said Heidi Williams-Oelz, customer relationship and marketing manager at Thandeka. 'We want to be able to partner with our retailers and our manufacturers to enable them to bring more onshoring to South Africa.'
The demand is there. Brands like Foschini, Levi's and K-Way are already working with South African firms such as Berzacks, known locally as the 'sewing machine people', who equip manufacturers with industrial sewing machinery and products such as thread.
'The next place to be'
Chinese companies are looking to further cement their place in the South African value chain.
SAB South Africa, a subsidiary of global accessory giant WeiXing, is planting roots in SA, gaining traction with major retailers such as Truworths. Its goal is to bridge the gap between Chinese innovation and South African creativity.
Cliff Shen, SAB's sales manager, said that the company wanted to penetrate the South African market because it was 'uncharted territory' and that Africa had a growing economy, which made it 'the next place to be'.
China floods South Africa with imports, but it also supplies the materials and components without which local clothing production would grind to a halt.
'The cooperation between China and South Africa is quite close,' Chang'an said. 'We are not necessarily competitors in the textile industry; we could be partners.'
In the same breath, he referred to China's 'longstanding advantages' of advanced tech, established industrial chains and strong manufacturing capabilities, comparing it with South Africa's large consumer market, which provided space for the development of the clothing industry.
Kolala believes that globalisation has forced us to think differently about sourcing and collaborations. 'We have to take that opportunity and work with competitors as well as collaborators in order to [have a] bigger pie.' DM