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South Africa:David Whitehead closure may hit 760 workers |
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2004-11-12
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Blame it on strong rand and rampant Chinese imports, and what is left of a beleaguered company – David Whitehead – a leading textile and ready-made home furnishings company, tethering on the brink of liquidation.
There’s more at stake with 760 workers under threat of losing their jobs.
Explaining the reasons in details, Stefano Magni, the chief executive, said the company initially has a going concern with staff working overtime.
Magni said that "anything and everything" had been tried to keep David Whitehead going, but no one was prepared to invest in the textile industry, which was in dire straits.
"The company is in crisis," Magni said. "Retail customers are taking their business offshore and volumes are reducing all the time."
To compound the crisis, Chinese exporters have a huge advantage over local producers as their workers are paid only between 10 percent and 20 percent of the wages determined by bargaining councils for South African workers.
Management in the meanwhile, is deliberating with the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union in a last-ditch effort to save the company, which was bought from Tongaat Hulett in October 2001, with a staff of 1280 workers.
The Executive Director of the Textile Federation, Brian Brink stated that four or five other unnamed firms were facing similar situation and may close before year-end. |
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