OVERVIEW
Manufacturing TFG plans to double manufacturing capacity.
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FG, whose South African brands include TotalSports, Markhams and Foschini, has a five-year plan to double its manufacturing capacity. Having purchased Prestige Clothing Maitland and Prestige Clothing Caledon in 2012 and spent R75-million on expanding the factory in Caledon in 2017, TFG now plans to significantly increase the percentage of locally-made clothing items from the current level of 35% to 55%. This expansion should lead to more jobs within the group, which expanded in 2020 with the purchase of Jet from Edcon. 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 amounted in 2017 to R4.4-billion with sales up by 34% above inflation. SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2021
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SECTOR INSIGHT The furniture sector is finding ways to grow. The furniture manufacturing sector earned R3.9-billion in exports in 2018 and contributed 1% to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Employment across the sector amounts to more than 26 000, but that figure is markedly down from a high of 80 000 in the 1990s. Exposure to foreign imports and distance from lucrative markets continue to pose threats to the sector, but a group of manufacturers, buyers, government and traders has set out to do something about it. A first Furniture Sector Forum (pictured) was held
