The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has approved a R200-million grant fund and a five-year plan for the establishment of a national cluster to "leapfrog" local industry’s competitiveness in global sustainable textile and apparel manufacturing.

The cluster initiative was funded through the DTI’s Competitiveness Improvement Programme as part of the overall Clothing and Textiles Competitiveness Programme (CTCP).

The CTCP was established to stabilise employment and improve overall competitiveness in South Africa’s clothing, textile, footwear, leather and leather goods manufacturing industries.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies noted that the main aim of the national cluster initiative would be to build and improve the capacity in the local 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 adhere to the 100% local content designation; and to facilitate the development of sector- or supply chain-specific subnational clusters.

The cluster would establish and manage shared national resources to provide an enabling environment for cluster members and other subnational clusters and to incubate opportunities for sustainable small, medium-sized and microenterprise participation and employment creation – from farm to retail.

It would also work towards maximising 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.

Another objective was to establish a national sector body to represent the entire industry value chain from fibre to end-use product.

During its first year of operation, the cluster would implement a range of competitiveness improvement interventions to achieve its objectives.