President Cyril Ramaphosa says he wants answers from the minister of sport, arts and culture, Gayton McKenzie, regarding the minister’s “negotiations” with Chinese fashion retailer Shein.
Ramaphosa reminded him that international trade deals are the competency of the trade ministry.
This was after McKenzie sent the arts community into a frenzy when he recently met Shein in Singapore to discuss collaboration with SA’s creative, fashion and sports sectors, particularly in supporting inclusive sporting initiatives and empowering young local designers and athletes.
“We can’t stop Shein from doing business in South Africa; we can agitate and negotiate for greater participation of the local fashion industry. We met them precisely for that reason. You guys think staying angry at companies is a solution? There is value in collaboration,” Mckenzie said.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Ramaphosa said the process of reaching agreements with other players in the world was well co-ordinated through the department of trade, industry and competition.
He said whatever agreements arrived at were properly considered and properly synthesised by the department and the cabinet.
“And in doing all this, ensure that all government departments work in an integrated fashion, so there is no government department that will just hive off on its own and go and reach agreements that are not known by others.”
Ramaphosa added that government ministers were entitled to meet whomever they encountered on the world stage, but added that whatever proposals were put forward must first go through the government.
“And possible agreements are first properly discussed. So in this case in point, I would say that minister McKenzie has not yet reported to me on this particular issue, and whatever the intentions of the counterpart in another country would be properly discussed and properly evaluated by the government on an integrated basis before any agreement is reached.”
He said the government’s main focus was to protect SA jobs, particularly in the clothing and textile industry.
“We are focused on agreements with a variety of players, and we put in place incentives to protect those jobs and to revive that industry. Not only us in South Africa, but many countries continue to face pressure from cheaper products that seep into their markets and in the end we have to take measures to protect our jobs, to protect our industries.
“Steps that we have taken in the past, we will continue to take to ensure that we protect South African jobs. So I will pay attention to what you have said and get some answers as well,” Ramaphosa said.
TimesLIVE
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