Cape Town’s Clothing Industry Charts a Course for Inclusive Growth

OPINION PIECE BY ALDERMAN JAMES VOS, MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH:

At the 20th Annual General Meeting of the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (CCTC), I had the honour of receiving the Industry Champion Award, a deeply meaningful recognition of the work we’ve done together to strengthen Cape Town’s clothing and textile sector.

This award is a strong signal that our shared efforts are delivering real results. It’s also an encouraging reminder that focused, practical support can help entire sectors grow, adapt, and thrive.

This recognition comes at a pivotal moment. As recent reporting in the Daily Maverick highlights, South Africa’s clothing and textile industry is under intense pressure, from both global trade dynamics and the need to drive local development. While it’s encouraging to see growth in exports, low-cost imports continue to flood the market, posing serious challenges to local manufacturers.

In the face of these headwinds, our approach in Cape Town, one rooted in partnership and clustering, has proven its value. I’ve seen firsthand how collaboration, more than competition, drives progress. Bringing businesses together to solve common challenges sparks innovation, strengthens operations, and builds resilience.

Through our support for Special Purpose Vehicles like the CCTC, we’ve seen the power of this model. In 2024 alone, SPV-supported programmes secured R6,4 billion in investment and supported over 15 700 jobs across high-potential sectors. We back these clusters because they get things done. They align stakeholders around shared goals and deliver measurable outcomes.
Beyond the clothing and textile sector, we’ve applied this same model to others – like marine manufacturing, business process outsourcing, and green technology – with equally impressive results. Each cluster helps unlock opportunities, drives innovation, and builds a skilled workforce for the future.

Within the CCTC, programmes such as Project Present are changing the game. This initiative, aimed at reducing absenteeism, recovered 1,2 million production minutes and achieved an 11,2% improvement in just seven months. Likewise, Origin8 has helped small and medium manufacturers scale their operations, and the Team Leaders Programme has strengthened factory floor management across the city.

All of this ties into my economic growth programme of action, which focuses on unlocking investment, preparing our workforce, and ensuring that economic growth is inclusive and sustainable.

On a personal note, one of the things I love most about engaging this industry is visiting clothing factories and meeting the people behind our garments, from the patternmakers, machinists, to team leads, and quality checkers. It’s wonderful to witness the craftsmanship, creativity, and care that goes into every item. These are the people whose skills and dedication power our local economy.

Looking ahead, I fully support the CCTC’s bold 2030 targets: to localise the production of an additional 30 million garments each year, create 12 500 new direct jobs, and unlock R2 billion in value chain investment. These are ambitious, but entirely achievable goals, and they reflect our shared commitment to building Cape Town’s manufacturing muscle.

As I said at the AGM, this award is not just a personal honour, it reflects a collective effort. Together, government and industry are building a more resilient, competitive, and inclusive economy. Cape Town’s manufacturers are already producing over 110 million garments annually within national retail supply chains. With continued partnership, we can achieve even more.

I remain committed to this mission – driving growth, creating opportunity, and ensuring that the benefits of economic development reach every community in our city.