THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Question 379
Mr. K A Sinclair (COPE-NC) to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry:
Whether the 69 000 people in the textile industry who lost their jobs in
the past six years are being encouraged or supported to form cooperatives
to produce clothing on a more cost-effective basis; if not, why not; if so,
what are the relevant details?CW476E
Response:
A number of awareness campaigns on establishing cooperatives were conducted
by the dti in partnership with the provincial departments of economic
development in all nine provinces. Some of the awareness campaigns were
attended by people in the textiles sector, who had lost their jobs and were
looking for alternatives. Unions also participated in these campaigns.
After the passing of the cooperatives legislation of 2005 (Act No 14 of
2005), a number of cooperatives were registered in the textiles sector.
Between April 2005 and March 2010, 1,394 cooperatives were registered in
the textiles sector with membership of more than 15,000. The majority of
these cooperatives are in KZN (641), followed by Gauteng (250); Limpopo and
Mpumalanga (112); Eastern Cape (125); North West (84); Free State and
Western Cape (28); and Northern Cape (14).
From September 2006 to date, over 50 cooperatives in the textiles sector
have been funded by the dti through the Cooperative Incentive Scheme (CIS)
to the tune of R15 million. Most of these cooperatives were formed by
people who had lost their jobs in the textile firms but decided to utilise
their skills by forming worker cooperatives. The cooperatives that were
supported through CIS have close to 500 members and are spread through five
provinces with the majority being in Gauteng and KZN (19 each); Western
Cape (6); Eastern Cape (3); and Limpopo (3).