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South Africa opened its economy too early, too rapidly, and without protecting a society emerging from centuries of colonialism and apartheid. One of the biggest mistakes was allowing South Africa to be classified and treated as a “developed economy” based largely on the living standards of the white minority, while the overwhelming majority of black people had just emerged from systemic underdevelopment and exclusion. Tariffs were removed at a reckless pace, without a serious industrial policy to defend and rebuild local manufacturing. That opened the floodgates for heavily subsidised imports and goods produced in low-wage sweatshop economies, particularly from parts of Asia, to flood our markets. The result was devastating for South Africa’s clothing, textile, footwear, and leather industries, which once employed hundreds of thousands of workers. Factories closed. Industrial towns declined. Skills were lost. Entire value chains collapsed. Even after campaigns forced regulations such as certificates of origin on clothing sold locally, enforcement has remained weak and inconsistent. Cheap imports continue to dominate retail spaces while local producers struggle to survive. In many areas, informal and unregulated trading has expanded without proper planning, infrastructure, or support for local industry. The tragedy is not ordinary migrants trying to survive. The real issue is a failed economic model: deindustrialisation, deregulation, weak enforcement, and the abandonment of industrial policy. When industries collapse and unemployment explodes, social breakdown follows young people are pushed into desperation, informal survivalism, crime, drugs, and hopelessness. No country can sustain itself by destroying production and becoming only a warehouse and consumption economy. South Africa needs a serious industrial recovery strategy: protect local industries, enforce trade regulations, rebuild manufacturing capacity, invest in skills, and create decent jobs for young people.

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