The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) has approved a R200-million Grant Fund and a 5-Year Plan for the establishment of a National Cluster to leapfrog local industry's competitiveness capability in global Sustainable Textile and Apparel Manufacturing.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the Cluster initiative is funded through its Competitiveness Improvement Programme (CIP) as part of the overall Clothing and Textiles Competitiveness Programme (CTCP). The CTCP is a programme of the dti to stabilise employment and to improve overall competitiveness in the clothing, textile, footwear, leather and leather goods manufacturing industries. 
 
Minister Davies says the main aim of this Cluster initiative is to build and improve the capacity in the South African textile and apparel industry value chain to effectively supply:

• Local and international consumers with fully traceable sustainable apparel and household textile products;
• Local Government with fully traceable sustainable textile and apparel products that adheres to the 100% local content designation as stipulated by the PPPFA Regulation;
• Facilitate the development of sector and/or supply chain specific Sub-National Clusters.
• Minister Davies added that in support of the above, the Cluster has amongst others the following specific objectives:
  • Establish and manage shared national resources to provide an enabling environment for cluster members and other sub-national clusters;
  • Incubate opportunities for sustainable SMME participation and employment creation – from farm to retail;
  • Maximising the production capacity development and beneficiation of local raw materials – starting with cotton and then broadening its scope to include all other natural and synthetic fibres;
  • Establish a National Sector Body that represents the entire industry value chain from fibre to end use product – bringing together like-minded sector leaders that work closely with Government to map out the future development of the industry and address mutual issues of national concern.

During its first year of operation, the Cluster will implement a wide range of Competitiveness Improvement Interventions to achieve its objectives.