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Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province
Since the early 2000s, South Africa's once thriving sector started to whither due to a combination of domestic and international factors. The result was a sharp decline in manufacturing output, low productivity levels, factory closures and massive job losses across the sector. The blow to the indust...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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School of Economics
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613295752511488 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Vika, Lutho |
| author2 | Morris, Michael |
| author_browse | Morris, Michael Vika, Lutho |
| author_facet | Morris, Michael Vika, Lutho |
| author_sort | Vika, Lutho |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Since the early 2000s, South Africa's once thriving sector started to whither due to a combination of domestic and international factors. The result was a sharp decline in manufacturing output, low productivity levels, factory closures and massive job losses across the sector. The blow to the industry was exasperated by the surge of cheap imports, both legal and illegal, primarily coming from China. The poor performance and consequent contraction of the industry had a profound impact on the predominately female workers. In recent years, however, the clothing industry has started to stabilise and is beginning to show positive trends in terms of performance and competitiveness. This paper therefore examines whether female workers have gained from the changes that have taken place in the industry, looking specifically at the Western Cape region. It finds that although the Western Cape clothing industry was the most severely hit by the challenges of global competition, it is now doing relatively well. Furthermore, it argues that the sector is upgrading and providing increased opportunities for women in terms of employment and skills development. This can be attributed to the changes in policy approach by government as well as new and improved production methodologies that are being adopted by firms. Moreover, it argues that the Cape Clothing and Textiles Cluster (CCTC) has played a critical role in driving these processes in the industry primarily through high level trainings and the exposure of executives to the latest industry developments, both nationally and internationally. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/22975 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:51.607Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | School of Economics |
| publisherStr | School of Economics |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/22975 Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province Vika, Lutho Morris, Michael Economics Economic Development Since the early 2000s, South Africa's once thriving sector started to whither due to a combination of domestic and international factors. The result was a sharp decline in manufacturing output, low productivity levels, factory closures and massive job losses across the sector. The blow to the industry was exasperated by the surge of cheap imports, both legal and illegal, primarily coming from China. The poor performance and consequent contraction of the industry had a profound impact on the predominately female workers. In recent years, however, the clothing industry has started to stabilise and is beginning to show positive trends in terms of performance and competitiveness. This paper therefore examines whether female workers have gained from the changes that have taken place in the industry, looking specifically at the Western Cape region. It finds that although the Western Cape clothing industry was the most severely hit by the challenges of global competition, it is now doing relatively well. Furthermore, it argues that the sector is upgrading and providing increased opportunities for women in terms of employment and skills development. This can be attributed to the changes in policy approach by government as well as new and improved production methodologies that are being adopted by firms. Moreover, it argues that the Cape Clothing and Textiles Cluster (CCTC) has played a critical role in driving these processes in the industry primarily through high level trainings and the exposure of executives to the latest industry developments, both nationally and internationally. 2017-01-24T09:09:46Z 2017-01-24T09:09:46Z 2016 Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22975 eng application/pdf School of Economics Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Economics Economic Development Vika, Lutho Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province |
| title_full | Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province |
| title_fullStr | Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province |
| title_short | Gender dynamics in the South African apparel value chain: a case study on the Western Cape province |
| title_sort | gender dynamics in the south african apparel value chain a case study on the western cape province |
| topic | Economics Economic Development |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22975 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vikalutho genderdynamicsinthesouthafricanapparelvaluechainacasestudyonthewesterncapeprovince |