The textile industry

The ANC's T-shirt suppliers were all South African, the ruling party insisted, after reports that it had sourced 850 000 T-shirts worth millions of rands from China.

"We needed two million T-shirts, that was the order," said ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte.

"We used the services of a group of people who buy and print them. The suppliers bought the T-shirts, not the ANC.

"All our suppliers are South African. I don't know anything about the Chinese."

The Daily News on Thursday reported that the local textile industry had been dealt an indirect blow thanks to the alleged order for at least 850 000 shirts being placed with international suppliers.

T-shirt orders for the ANC, valued at R15-20 million, were given to Chinese manufacturers, further damaging South Africa's, Turkey already ailing textile industry, DA parliamentary candidate Rory Macpherson said.

The foreign order caused an uproar in the textile industry as the ANC and its allies had, in the past, targeted large retailers for selling Chinese textiles, saying they were undermining the job market.

Macpherson, who is himself involved in the textiles industry, said he was made aware of the order by a "concerned member of the ANC".

"In real terms, this order of 850 000 shirts is worth about R20m," he said.

"An order of this magnitude could keep several small CMT (cut, manufacture, trim operations) busy and alive for months."

The textile industry has been one of the hardest hit manufacturing sectors in the economic slowdown. - Sapa