Clotex - South Africa

The origin of CLOTEX goes back to two important developments in the Western Cape in the mid-1990s, viz. the establishment of Texclo and Local Business Service Centres. Texclo, the Textile and Clothing Cluster Project of the Western Cape was established in 1994, with financial and other support from SANS and Wesgro. The aim of Texclo was to enhance the competitiveness of the Western Cape textile and clothing industries through co-operative projects. One of a few projects initiated by Texclo in 1995 was the establishment of a Clothing and Textile Service Centre for small clothing enterprises. More or less at the same time the establishment of Local Business Service Centres (LBSCs) became a key thrust in the government’s new national support strategy for small businesses.  

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Against that background Texclo and Wesgro co-operated to establish CLOTEX as the first sector-focused LBSC in the country. Facilitated by grants from Woolworths and SANS on the private sector side and from the Cape Metropolitan Council and two other local authorities on the public sector side, CLOTEX started operating from early 1996, when Sophia Davids was appointed as field worker. Initially, operated from Wesgro’s offices, but in early 1997, when Doug Miller was appointed as manager, it moved in with the Business Opportunity Network (BON) until it joined the Cape Town Small Business Centre a year later.