The textile industry in South Africa has undergone many changes over the years since its inception into the global arena. The industry's success will depend on its ability to adopt world class manufacturing principles, create more value-added products and be highly competitive to sustain itself in the long term. The main objective of this study was to determine whether or not the textile industry in South Africa is under threat. The other objective was to provide information on the textile industry that would be of assistance to stakeholders and policymakers in South Africa. Certain factors that were thought to impede or restrict the overall performance of the South African textile industry at macro and industry level were identified as follows: 1. Trade liberalisation(globalisation) 2. Tariffs and regulations 3. Imports and exports 4. Cotton 5. Labour 6. Currency fluctuation The secondary research was based on a literature survey of current textile journals, articles from South African textile magazines, statistics from industry reports, textbooks on international trade and marketing, the Internet and newspapers. To evaluate the fmdings of the literature survey, a questionnaire was formulated and empirically tested among selected experts in the textile industry in South Africa. The review of the factors in both the literature review as well as the experts opinions support the statement that the textile industry is under threat. This study was conducted during a time when the industry's perfonnance was down and many of the views and opinions of those experts consulted could have been biased. The time taken to undertake this study is also questionable as a longer review period would have been more appropriate for this type of study to be conducted.

Thesis (M.B.A.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.