THERE’S NO CHEAP LABOUR IN TEXTILE INDUSTRY

MBABANE – The textile industry is not for the faint hearted, as it remains one of the most labour intensive industries and relies heavily on overseas export markets which many traditional traders dread as a ‘pie in the sky’.

From this male dominated industry comes a highly optimistic and hard working woman in Tokky Hou, who has demonstrated patience for the many hurdles that mar this industry.

Born and raised in Eswatini, Hou is a married woman who started her career in the retail industry and moved up the ranks until she became one of the notable employers in the country. She has made most of her impact in the role she plays as Chairperson of the Business Women Eswatini, a subsidiary of Business Eswatini.

Eswatini News sat down with Tokky to find out what she is made of.

EN: Thank you for agreeing to speak to us. Please introduce yourself and gives us a brief background of yourself.

Hou: I was born and raised in Eswatini. After I got married and my husband and I began business in the retail industry, we then ventured into clearing cross-border goods. The opportunity to enter the textile industry availed itself and with the experience, knowledge and skills acquired from our various business ventures, we felt as if we would be able to enter the textile industry and succeed. We started Far East Textile in 2002 and the rest as they say, is history.

EN: Besides your roles in the Business Eswatini, what other roles do you play in society and community development?

Hou: For the most part, my roles in Business Eswatini (BWE and the Vukani BoMake Project), my company (Far East Textile) and being president of Golden Foot running club keep me extremely busy and do not really allow me to take part in other things. However, I feel what Business Women Eswatini and the Vukani BoMake Project does, really does a lot for societal and community development so I do try to put all my effort into that. I feel like it is one initiative that will make lasting change as we as BWE are helping these women by teaching them entrepreneurial skills on the administrative side of starting and running a business, teaching them how to sew and giving them equipment (sewing machines) in order to allow them to start-up their own textile factories, ‘village factories’.

EN: Through Business Women Eswatini, you have been playing a pivotal role in the quest to flatten the curve of the COVID-19. Please take us through some of the major initiatives you have led.

Hou: During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first few months of the lockdown, BWE made donations of babies’ clothing to RFM and the Mbabane Government Hospital. Even though stores were closed and the lockdown had begun, babies did not stop being born and there was dire need for these infants’ clothing, and we thought as BWE to try and provide as best we can. Another initiative that we have led was the Vukani BoMake Project, with which before we begun the entrepreneurial aspect (teaching to start and manage a textile business) of it, we donated water tanks to three Tinkhundla within Eswatini to help them sanitise by washing their hands. Also, to help them provide food for themselves, through farming, they use the donated water tanks as a means of irrigation. In addition to that, donations of food items like rice and beans were made to the Tinkhundla to assist those who were unable to provide food for their families due to the lockdown.

EN: You are actively involved in promoting sports in the country. Why do you feel passionately about sports as a social development necessity?

Hou: Apart from the obvious health benefits, I believe that there are so many lessons that can be learned through sports that can be used in life as well. Things like self-belief, determination, teamwork, respect, cooperation, tolerance, and leadership are all values that one can learn from sports.

EN: What are the major hindrances for women in business in Eswatini, and how do you think these can be overcome?

Hou: The way in which we think about women in business. Over the last 10 years, there has been major progress in the inclusion of women in business and giving of equal opportunity. However, even though there has been major progress, this does not mean that equality has been reached. We still live in a nation where it is believed that gender roles exist. These ideals lead to still not seeing women as equal and holding onto prejudice because of incorrect beliefs. The fact that women must still work twice as hard as men to receive a promotion or their businesses must be near flawless for their businesses to be considered good is evidence of that. More than anything, these ideals are the major hindrances for women in business in Eswatini. A lot of things can be done in the way of changing policy and Legislature, but ultimately, it starts with how we view women and that has a lot to do with what we teach the younger generation because maybe we cannot control the present but we can definitely try mould our youth in what we teach them.

EN: You are playing a major role in the textile industry in the country which is the second largest employer. What areas of development do you think exist in this industry and how can they be exploited?

Hou: Education and development of our value chain. Most times in the textile industry, almost every new worker that comes in is without any textile skills. Companies in the textile industry take it upon themselves to educate these employees first before allowing them to begin working on buyer garments. This, however, means that time and resources need to be taken to teach these employees before they can be productive and contribute to the textile industry. Because the textile industry is based on the principles of quality and on-time delivery, skilled workers are the only thing that makes that a reality. An idea that has been looked at has been the starting of a textile vocational training centre in Eswatini. This would be one area that can be exploited.

Another important aspect is development of a value chain. The textile value chain is wide in its influence. Beginning at companies that make fabric, all the way to the transporting of goods. The most developed parts of the value chain remain to be the garment manufacturers and the logistics industries which are used to transport goods. Areas like mass fabric production and producers of trims (buttons, elastic and all other fabric components of garments) are still areas which need further development and investment in our value chain.

EN: Do you think Eswatini has worked to sustain the economy and jobs in the event that the Africa Growth Opportunities Act were to fall away?

Hou: AGOA is one of the biggest stepping stones for business in Eswatini. The textile industry for example, is one that has taken large advantage of this to amazing effect. AGOA has assisted and continues to assist the country in building partnerships with foreign companies, receiving foreign currency for our trade surplus and assist companies in Eswatini to start-up. Ultimately, I think that Eswatini is doing it’s best to sustain the economy and jobs in the event that AGOA were to fall away for any reason, but at this current moment, as we are still in a pandemic and Eswatini is a developing country, we still very much need AGOA.

EN: Far East Textile secured  an important deal to supply face masks to the US through approval from the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA). What developments has this underscored for the country and the company?

Hou: The approval from the FDA was a requirement that formed part of a supplier registration for re-usable face masks and re-usable surgical aprons. At the current moment, Far East is engaged with different entities like USAID that are assisting to partner us with American suppliers. However, Far East Textile has managed to get themselves up-and-running during the pandemic. We have managed to retain most of our staff complement and have been able to do as much work as the COVID-19 precautionary measures can allow. So even though we are not producing for the US at the current moment, we are not sitting on our hands waiting for assistance to come, we are still able to employ emaswati and contribute as best we can to the economy.

EN: It is said that the textile industry in Eswatini is sustained by cheap labour. To what extent do you concur or dispute this belief?

Hou: As the textile industry, this is something that we have heard time-and-time again. However, because the textile industry does not come out to publicly dispute these claims, these claims are then believed to be a fact. We provide them wages according to what has been gazetted by the government. Over and above that, a lot of the retail companies that we work with conduct periodical audits of the factories that they are partnered with to see that these companies are maintaining labour laws and have ethical business practices. Therefore, if our industries were sustained by cheap labour, we would not be able to form business partnerships with the international buyers that we have.

EN: Are you happy with the taxation regime for the textile industry?

Hou: I think as it stands, the taxation regime for the textile industry has not yet been moulded to what the textile industry does like in some other countries. So, it does not yet result in a great ease of business and attractive to potential investors.

EN: Thank you for your time. Eswatini News wishes you success in all your business endeavours.

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