Tiisetso Motsoeneng
Tiisetso Motsoeneng
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has shelved plans to boycott the "made-in-China" Springbok rugby kit after reaching an agreement with the supplier, it was announced yesterday.
Brimstone, co-owners of sportswear manufacturer Canterbury, which supplies both the Springbok rugby team and supporters' kits, agreed with the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) and Cosatu to maximise local procurement of the Springbok kit.
Cosatu urged its members a few weeks ago to refuse to buy Springbok rugby kits that were made in China, after Chinese-made jackets promoting the World Cup were recalled because the national flag was printed upside down.
"Brimstone has agreed to immediately, significantly improve the level of local procurement and undertakes to locally manufacture the majority of the kit that will be sold to supporters," it said.
The company said that it planned to achieve 100percent local manufacturing within the next two years and that it would work with both Sactwu and Cosatu on the technical specifications of the garments.
The agreement comes nearly nine months after the government imposed import quotas on selected Chinese products in order to save jobs in the South African textile sector.- I-Net Bridge
Supplier plans to go 100% local in the next two years
Tiisetso Motsoeneng
Tiisetso Motsoeneng
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has shelved plans to boycott the "made-in-China" Springbok rugby kit after reaching an agreement with the supplier, it was announced yesterday.
Brimstone, co-owners of sportswear manufacturer Canterbury, which supplies both the Springbok rugby team and supporters' kits, agreed with the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) and Cosatu to maximise local procurement of the Springbok kit.
Cosatu urged its members a few weeks ago to refuse to buy Springbok rugby kits that were made in China, after Chinese-made jackets promoting the World Cup were recalled because the national flag was printed upside down.
"Brimstone has agreed to immediately, significantly improve the level of local procurement and undertakes to locally manufacture the majority of the kit that will be sold to supporters," it said.
The company said that it planned to achieve 100percent local manufacturing within the next two years and that it would work with both Sactwu and Cosatu on the technical specifications of the garments.
The agreement comes nearly nine months after the government imposed import quotas on selected Chinese products in order to save jobs in the South African textile sector.- I-Net Bridge