A sectoral analysis of skills gaps and shortages in the clothing and textile industry in South Africa

The SA clothing and textiles industries have undergone difficult restructuring over the past ten years due to the combined impact of domestic and international factors. The negative impact of this transformation is manifest in the declining contribution of the sector to total manufacturing output, its falling export share and significant contraction in sector employment. This outcome might have been different had this process of restructuring been pre-empted and accompanied by a concerted effort to up-skill remaining workers and promote innovation in the sector. This could have enabled the sector to pursue a skills-led competitiveness strategy and assist a move toward higher-cost, high quality items. Paradoxically, underinvestment in both human and physical capital in the South African clothing and textiles sector has deepened the crisis precipitated by globalisation and currency weakness and the sector has been incapable of dealing with rising import penetration. Government policy designed to address the effects of liberalisation on the sector has largely been regressive and reinforces the perception of global trade as a threat rather than opportunity. Instead of creating a paradigm shift up the value chain, evidence from this and other studies suggests that interventions, like the China quotas, are driving local firms in the opposite direction, that is, down the value chain toward basic, low value-added garments