Made in Lesotho?
June 23rd, 2009
A few months ago, I bought a few golf shirts when I was in USA. I bought them over there mainly because there is such a huge selection, the quality is great, and the prices are far cheaper than back home.
So, imagine my suprise when I discovered that one of the shirts that I bought was made in Lesotho, just around the corner (in fact inside) South Africa. This leads to an interesting question. Why is is that I can buy clothing in USA that were made just around the corner for about half what it costs in South Africa?
Our textiles industry has a fascination with the imported Chinese clothing, and how the imports are affecting our textiles industry. However it baffels me that I can buy clothing basically made in South Africa for fall less than it costs to buy a similar product in South Africa. Something doesn’t make sense.
Can somebody please explain?
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Tags: clothing, consumer prices, textiles
November 23rd, 2009 at 5:21 pm
If I understand your question properly then the answer is the following:
South Africa has labour laws. Lesotho does not. Workers there earn near slave wages. Hence, Lesotho can manufacture garments more cheaply than we can.
November 23rd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Thanks, but my question is why is a garment made in Lesotho cheaper to buy in USA than in SA?