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.

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Within these 100 years, 1860-1960, in the east of Scotland, a highly specialised woodworking industry closely associated with flax and jute manufacturing, grew from modest beginnings to a position of some importance in the economy of this country. Eventually it declined to a point of virtual extinction leaving few traces of the unique skills and innovatory processes it once employed. The principal products of this industry, bobbins and shuttles, have been fundamental to the crafts of spinning and weaving for thousands of years but the industrialisation of the textile trade in the 19th century stimulated a demand for very large quantities of these components manufactured to engineering standards of precision. Consequently there emerged in mid-century an industry which, in the early years, served the flax and jute mills of Scotland and later, the far larger operations in India which by 1914, had achieved the world leadership in jute manufacturing. This research sought to examine the reasons for the growth and decline of this Scottish trade, its unusual methods and remarkable skills and the long-lasting connection with India it enjoyed. The investigations were centred on the Gateside Mills, a firm in Fife typical of those involved, whose records originated in the late 19th century. This material together with evidence from other sources provided not only an insight into the industry overall and the working conditions of those employed, but also an account of the conduct of a comparatively small company with extensive overseas trading interests, in times of peace and war.