'Woolworths welcomes the DTI's decision to delay the implementation as well as to address some of the unintended consequences of the proposed quotas on the import of Chinese clothing and textiles, says Simon Susman, CE of Woolworths. “As South Africans, we support the government's programme for driving growth and alleviating poverty. We recognise these measures as an attempt to achieve those goals. “We look forward to engaging further with government and other key stakeholders on the detail of this proposal. We believe any proposal needs to deliver sustainable solutions which ensure that the inflationary impact for the consumer is minimised. These solutions must include all stakeholders working together to make this industry more productive and flexible, and therefore competitive. We would like to reiterate that as a passionately South African retailer we are committed to sourcing locally wherever we can, with the end goal being to provide our customers with quality goods at the right price. Buying local has always made sense to us; indeed over 65% of our clothing is sourced from South African suppliers.

Woolworths welcomes the DTI's decision to delay the implementation as well as to address some of the unintended consequences of the proposed quotas on the import of Chinese clothing and textiles, says Simon Susman, CE of Woolworths.