The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing & Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) welcomes this afternoon’s  Competition Tribunal’s  approval of the sale of Jet Stores to The Foschini Group (TFG). We are pleased that thousands of local jobs have been saved in the process, following the unfortunate recent difficulties in the EDCON Group. We hope that even more jobs can be saved during the other linked processes which still lie ahead.

SACTWU, as one of the concerned trade unions involved in this matter, participated in this competition merger process as an interested and affected party, providing comments and guidance on these and other desired outcomes.

In addition, we are particularly encouraged by the prospect that more local manufacturing jobs could be protected and created in the domestic clothing manufacturing industry itself, in consequence. In this regard, the Competition Tribunal’s call for increased local procurement as part of the overall approval, provides an exciting impetus to the future sustainability of the domestic clothing manufacturing industry.

Statement issued by SACTWU