Textile job opportunities made in Cape Town

10 March 2023

This week, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, joined the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (CCTC), the City’s industry partner, for a ceremony to celebrate a group of Capetonians graduating from the Emerging Leader Development and Team Leader Development Programmes. 

The programmes were funded by the City and saw young staff from local manufacturing companies receive training around business management, conflict resolution, and lean manufacturing.

'As a City, we are proud to support the development of a steady skills pipeline and future leaders for Cape Town's high value industries. Our laser-focused approach in boosting these industries is one of the big reasons why 74% of the 169 000 new jobs created in South Africa in the last quarter of 2022, were made in Cape Town,' said Alderman Vos. 

Currently, 23 800 people work in the clothing and textile industry in Cape Town.

'CCTC research has found that at least 20 000 jobs can be created in the Mother City's clothing manufacturing industry alone if we focus our efforts on building local production. And that is why it is my hope that these kinds of workforce development initiatives will help accelerate the labour pool, leading to increased output and trade, all towards the larger goal of greater employment,' said Alderman Vos.

The graduates came from several local manufacturers, including Alligator, Cape Union Mart, Cotton Traders, Performance Brands and Rogz.

'This is a key element in driving competitiveness: providing the necessary skills resources that help local businesses to grow. In the coming months, we are going to build on these business and investment programmes and workforce development initiatives so that more opportunities can be realised in Cape Town,' said Alderman Vos. 

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office