Clothing manufacturers in Zimbabwe want the rebate for them to be extended by a year. They say if the government delays this extension, the textile industry will soon shut down. The clothing manufacturing sector presently operates at below 30 per cent capacity since the sector now only employs about 8,000 workers compared to more than 40,000 workers during its peak period. More than 200 clothing manufacturing companies have stopped operations.

Unscrupulous companies and individuals escape duty after they smuggle clothes into the country and label them as if they have been locally seamed. The country’s borders are very porous and aided by corrupt customs and immigration officials. Clothing manufacturers want the introduction of an import policy that would allow the sector to import textile materials duty free.

Zimbabwe’s textile and clothing sub-sectors consist of three components: production and ginning of cotton, transformation of lint into yarn and fabric, and the conversion of fabric and yarn into garments. Companies operating at up to 30 per cent capacity have severely been affected by the dollarisation and the influx of cheap products from abroad. They did not have the foreign currency to buy raw materials and pay wages and utilities from the start. There are some companies that are operating up to 60 per cent capacity and these are mostly those who have been into exports.