The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, cut the ribbon at the opening of Ivilitex, a new high-tech clothing and textile manufacturing facility in Epping.
The garment manufacturer is a division of the Ivili Group, a South African woman-owned company that is aiming to lead the charge towards increasing locally produced apparel from the current 44% to 65% by 2030.
‘I had the privilege of meeting with the founders of the Ivili Group last year and helping them to connect with other suppliers and roleplayers 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 and an example of the power of networking opportunities,’ said Alderman Vos.
Ivilitex’s initial production will consist of jeanswear for the local retailer market and will make use of state-of-the-art technology that will allow for the production and washing of garments with optimum levels of output and efficiency while maintaining the lowest impact on the environment.
With this machinery, the factory team can produce a pair of jeans in less than 13 minutes. Once their full staff complement of a few hundred people are on site, the facility is aiming for a capacity of 1 500 units per day and 33 000 per month.
Speaking at the opening, Alderman Vos said that Cape Town is home to a colourful patchwork of clothing and textile companies and that the industry was a key driver of economic growth and job creation in the metro and province.
‘From the 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.
‘Research by the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster – a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that the City proudly funds and works with to foster sectoral skills development and investments – has found that at least 20 000 jobs can be created in this industry in the Mother City alone.
‘To do this, we must focus our efforts on building local production and supporting innovative products and practices such as those from companies such as Ivili Group. Over the next financial year (July 2023 – June 2024), 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,’ said Alderman Vos.
