South African Business 2023

OVERVIEW Manufacturing

OVERVIEW Manufacturing Innovation and expansion are happening in textiles. SECTOR INSIGHT Government master plans aim to bolster local production. Special jeans for a special occasion. Designer Tshepo Mohlala, who created bespoke Tshepo Jeans for the inauguration of Sappi’s expansion project made from imported denim containing Sappi’s Verve Lyocell blend pulp, shakes hands with Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition. Looking on are Alex Thiel, CEO of Sappi Southern Africa, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, and President Cyril Ramaphosa. Credit: Sappi Sappi has spent R7.7-billion on expanding its dissolving pulp plant in KwaZulu-Natal. The project aims to boost the annual production capacity of dissolving pulp (DP) at Saiccor Mill by an additional 110 000 tons annually, taking production to 890 000 tons a year and reinforcing the company’s position as the world leader in the manufacture of Lyocell, a cutting-edge material of the future. Lyocell is a form of rayon consisting of cellulose fibres made from dissolving pulp that is reconstituted by dry jet-wet spinning. The fully biodegradable and compostable fibre is used to make textiles. TFG is ramping up production of clothing and expects to increase staff from just over 3 000 to more than 5 000 going in to 2023. TFG, which counts Foschini, TotalSports and Markhams among its brands, has been buying up clothing factories for nearly a decade and is now in a position to respond more quickly to fashion trends than when it was more dependent on imports. Among TFG’s acquisitions were Prestige Clothing Maitland and Prestige Clothing Caledon. The group then spent R75- million on expanding the factory in Caledon. TFG plans to significantly increase the percentage of locally-made clothing items from the current level of 35% to 55%. In 2020, the group made 12-million garments and is aiming for 30-million by 2025/26. The Manufacturing and Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP) of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) has disbursed grants which have resulted in 230 000 jobs being “sustained”. Because of the Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme, that sector currently now employs around 95 000 workers, contributing 8% to manufacturing GDP and 2.9% to overall GDP. In the leather sector 22 new factories have been opened, supporting 2 200 jobs. In the Western Cape, this revival is reflected in member companies of the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster hiring 35% more staff in four years. About 23 600 people are employed in the province and exports from the Cape are on the increase. SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2023 66

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