Despite promises of reviving SA textile industry, political parties using T-shirts from China & India

JOHANNESBURG - While political parties have promised to revive the country’s textile industry, many have sourced election T-shirts from India and China.

The T-shirts Rise Mzansi, the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have been giving to their supporters all have the tag: "Made in India".

While the African National Congress (ANC) has recently posted about sourcing from a local T-shirt factory some of the material used on the party’s regalia also comes from China.

T-shirts are a huge part of South Africa’s election campaigns.

During door-to-door campaigns, political parties distribute them at every house they visit.

While at rallies they help paint the stadium the colour of the political party.

During an election campaign, the big political parties are likely to go through thousands of T-shirts.

With this reality in mind, it's cheaper to buy in bulk from countries with documented histories of cheap labour.

In response to Eyewitness News queries, some of the parties said they sourced the T-shirts from local clients and they have no say over where the client produces the T-shirts.

"RISE Mzansi has prioritised local procurement. RISE Mzansi procured the T-shirts from a local company, who printed the T-shirts locally. A RISE Mzansi government will revive the local textile industry and make it more competitive. We will reverse the collapse of the industry by the ANC," Rise Mzansi National Communications Director, Mabine Seabe said.