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Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies should urgently reassure South Africa that the government is serious about introducing flexibility into the Clothing and Textile Sector wage model. If he does not, the battle line drawn yesterday by the Labour Minister, the sector bargaining council and the labour union could lead to the destruction of 9 500 jobs before the end of government's three-month reprieve to the clothing sector.

Earlier this month government offered a lifeline to 385 clothing manufacturers in Newcastle, Kwa-Zulu Natal who are not compliant with bargaining council provisions by blocking their prosecution until a "stakeholder engagement" in December. I imagine that this news was received with great relief by the factory workers the Democratic Alliance met with two weeks ago in Newcastle. Earlier, when the Sherriff was sent to shut down several factories, he was hounded away by the workers who want to keep their jobs.

But yesterday, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana weighed in with a bitter attack against the employers, calling them "thieves". This draws an unhelpful and divisive battle line two-and-a-half months before a government-brokered summit to resolve the issue.

On the one side you now have an "anti-jobs triad" of the National Bargaining Council for the Clothing Manufacturing Industry (NBCCMI), the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) and the Minister of Labour, who are looking to urgently shut down 385 factories and eliminate 9 500 jobs in Newcastle. On the other, you have the workers currently employed in those factories who told us that they are desperate to keep their jobs, and the factory owners who have created thousands of jobs in a deep rural area.

The Democratic Alliance believes that the only way out of this standoff is to strictly enforce minimum standards for working conditions, but amend the wage model to take account of differing conditions across South Africa. The Leather and Footwear sector implemented such a model in 2005 by introducing numerous grades that take into account the size and location of a factory - this saved jobs and reversed disinvestment in that sector and could be replicated in the clothing sector.

By picking a fight with employers two-and-a-half months before the "stakeholder engagement", the anti-jobs triad risks scuppering the whole process. Minister Davies needs to reassure the thousands of rural workers in Newcastle, many of whom are single mothers with 4 or more dependents, that government is serious about finding a way to save their jobs, and that he will not allow inflammatory statements to drive factory owners into the welcoming arms of Lesotho, Mozambique and Botswana - all of whom are working hard to persuade the factories to relocate.