Govt To Support Textile Sector To Come Out Of Crisis

The troubled textile industry said that its proposals to government to pull the industry out of its worst crisis to date had been received
favourably.However, the proposals required more work before government would consider them seriously.

The South African Textile Federation warned earlier that about 12000 of the industry''s 60000 jobs were at risk, mainly due to the effects of the strong rand on companies in the sector. "The situation is very serious. Some companies are just holding on by a thread," said federation executive director Brian Brink.

One of the largest companies in the sector, Seardel, said that trade in the next six months would be difficult. The collapse of parts of the textile industry would have a substantial effect on SA''s manufacturing sector. The textile industry is the sixth-largest employer in the manufacturing sector and the 11th-largest exporter of manufactured goods.

The industry suffers from the effects of the strong rand, which encourage imports and reduce export earnings. Imports now exceeded 50% of total consumption in SA for the first time in many years, the federation said.