Discordant Voices: The Hidden World of Johannesburg's Inner City Clothing Workers

Katherine Joynt
Edward Webster

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DOI: 10.2190/WR.16.2.c

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the working conditions of the new informal proletariat—or precariat—that has emerged in the clothing industry in the inner city of Johannesburg. Drawing on the results of in-depth interviews and nonparticipant observation, we provide a portrait of these workers. We describe the impact of international competition on the clothing industry and show how the production of clothing has changed in the inner city of Johannesburg in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. We argue that a four-tiered employment structure has emerged, with four main types of clothing enterprises in the area, each linked differently into the value chain for the manufacture of clothing, offering different working conditions, and experiencing different challenges. The enterprises that offer the least security are survivalist cut-make-and-trims (CMTs) in which the precariat, consisting of predominantly foreign male clothing workers, work in enterprises that are the least connected to the value chain for the manufacture of clothing. We describe the largely unsuccessful attempts made by the clothing workers' union to close the representational gap by organising informal workers in the inner city. We conclude by suggesting that any strategy for upgrading the industry must not only focus on economically upgrading the value chain but also needs to develop a strategy to improve the working and living conditions of the workers. This will require taking on board the concerns of those who occupy the hidden world of the clothing industry in the inner city.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.