Cape Town - The City of Cape Town’s economic growth directorate has welcomed yet another clothing and textile manufacturing plant to the Mother City.
Economic growth mayco member James Vos attended the launch of Ivilitex, a new high-tech clothing and textile manufacturing facility in Epping, in the week.
Ivilitex forms part of the Ivili Group, founded and led by a South African woman. The clothing manufacturing company will produce jeanswear for the local retailer market using state-of-the-art technology.
According to the City, the local clothing company is aiming to lead the charge towards increasing locally produced apparel from the current 44% to 65% by 2030.
Commenting on the launch of the facility, Vos said from small and medium-sized enterprises to large retailers with global footprints, the local industry makes up around 14% of manufacturing employment in the country, meaning that it facilitates an estimated 60 000 to 80 000 jobs. Of this, 23 800 people work in Cape Town.
Vos said: “I had the privilege of meeting with the founders of the Ivili Group last year and helping them to connect with other suppliers and role-players in the clothing ecosystem.
To see them take this massive step forward, both for themselves and for the clothing and textile manufacturing sector at large, is gratifying.
Vos also revealed that machinery that will be used by Ivilitex will reportedly be able to produce a pair of jeans in less than 13 minutes.
Research by the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster, an initiative under the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) funded by the City, at least 20 000 jobs could be created in the clothing and textile industry in Cape Town alone.
“To do this, we must focus on building local production and supporting innovative products and practices, such as those from companies like the Ivili Group. Over the next financial year, the City has allocated R41 million in its ‘Building Hope’ Budget towards SPV projects to attract jobs and investors to Cape Town.
“With our projects and programmes, we will continue to lay the foundations for a stronger economy that supports more people and makes Cape Town the easiest place in Africa to do business,” Vos said.
Last month, Vos’s economic growth directorate announced the near completion of a clothing and textile distribution centre for Truworths International Limited, which would be the biggest clothing and textile centre in the Western Cape to date.
The international distribution centre is a joint venture between King Air Industria and Truworths and is expected to be completed in November 2023.
The new facility is expected to house a warehouse of 50 000m and an office of 3 000m, totalling 53 000m, the equivalent of at 5-and-a-half rugby fields.