Clothing and leather SMMEs Acceler8 towards growth with City-supported programme
Cape Town-based clothing small businesses are closing 2025 on a high note through their participation in Cape Acceler8 – a 12-month capability-building journey designed to strengthen and grow emerging manufacturers across the metro.
Delivered by the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster (CCTC), the programme is made possible through contributions from both public and private partners, including support from the City of Cape Town as a catalytic funder to the CCTC. Forty small businesses form part of the inaugural cohort.
Participants receive expert workshops on business fundamentals such as cost engineering, financial management, customer negotiations, and competitor market analysis, alongside NQF-accredited technical training to strengthen operational capability.
‘Clothing, textile, footwear and leather (CTFL) manufacturing is a legacy industry in Cape Town, which is why it is encouraging that almost half the SMMEs in Acceler8 are from the Cape Flats. Similarly, 80% of the people employed in CTFL are women, and more than 70% of the programme’s trainees are women-led. Collectively, these businesses employ more than 600 people. With Acceler8, we are helping equip them with the tools to streamline operations, build networks across the value chain – including major retailers – and grow so that they can employ more Capetonians. This is what makes the difference,’ said Alderman James Vos.
During the first month of the programme, launched in early November, participants took part in a Lean Fundamentals workshop where they unpacked concepts of customer value, learned to identify waste in their processes, and built confidence to solve problems where the work happens.
The group later embarked on a best-practice tour of South Africa’s largest clothing factory, observing a live production environment in motion – the flow of materials, rhythm of workstations, and the energy of teams who take pride in their craft.
‘The City’s support enables the cluster to bring public and private partners together around a shared mission: building a globally competitive CTFL value chain in the Western Cape. Programmes like Cape Acceler8 help emerging firms access the tools, training and exposure they need to grow. That kind of catalytic investment lays the groundwork for deeper economic participation and more resilient value chains,’ said Courtney Grant, Chief Facilitator at the Cape Clothing and Textile Cluster.
‘Supporting the development of our local CTFL industry’s smallest firms is central to our mission to not just sustain existing employers and their staff, but to help them realise continued growth and investment. In 2023, 105 million garments were made in Capetonian factories, almost a third of South Africa’s domestic output. That same year, the industry contributed R5,6 billion to Cape Town’s economy. As global pressures continue to weigh on local industries, the City will continue to support programmes such as Acceler8 that empower SMMEs with the skills to innovate and expand,’ said Alderman Vos.
