ESPAfrika, the company
behind the Cape Town Jazz Festival, has been warmly applauded by the Department
of Trade and Industry (the dti) Director-General Lionel October for its
decision to commission local suppliers to manufacture its clothing giveaways
for the 2014 chapter of the nationally (and internationally) renowned festival.
October says he is pleased
that Rashid Lombard and Billy Domingo, and their team have taken this step.
“This tells us that the
message we’ve been conveying all around the country- for businesses to support
local suppliers - is bearing fruit. I hope that increasing numbers of South
African companies will follow ESPAfrika’s example,’ October said.
The Strategic Projects
Coordinator for ESPAfrika, Wayne van der Rheede, said the decision to buy local
followed talks with the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union
(SACTWU).
“We have agreed to support
local suppliers via SACTWU’s platform. In terms of this agreement, we will be
buying branded items such as caps and soft-collar T-shirts from Western Cape
factories. The total value of this will
be about R250, 000. There is a possibility that we will also be looking at
purchasing shirts for the occasion, in which case the value of the transaction
could then rise to in excess of R400,000 ,” ’ stated Van der Rheede.
The Minister of Trade and
Industry, Dr Rob Davies says the department has invested close to R1-billion of
incentives over the past year to raise competitiveness and to curb job losses
in the Clothing, Textiles, Leather and Footwear sectors.
“Having stablised the
industry, we have been pushing for the next big development to revolve around
companies and organisations coming in and buying local. As such, we are pleased
that ESPAfrika has joined retailers such as Truworths and Edgars in supporting
local procurement. Hopefully, this trend will continue to grow,” said Minister
Davies.
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