Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni will discuss the proposed quotas on Chinese clothing imports on Monday, Cosatu said.
Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven said the meeting would take place at 6.30pm at an undisclosed venue behind closed doors.
Comment about the meeting would be given if both parties agreed, Craven said.
Cosatu and Mboweni have been at loggerheads over the proposed quota on imports of Chinese textiles. Mboweni told the National Assembly’s finance committee that the quotas were illogical, made no economic sense and could backfire.
Cosatu, which had welcomed the move, said the governor’s comment revealed that he had very different priorities from the majority of South Africans.
Mboweni also told the Parliament’s portfolio committee on finance that if the local textile industry did not become competitive, ”you have no dog’s chance in hell of becoming competitive in the three years or so that the quota will be imposed”.
Vavi called Mboweni’s remarks ”unfortunate” and ”insensitive”.
”They were absolutely irresponsible,” he said.
Mboweni has since been reported saying: ”I gather [Vavi] says I should not talk about the economy, only monetary policy. I’ll stick to monetary policy if he sticks to union organising.”
Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa said the quotas came after months of planning and were ”not some crazy action”.
But he agreed with Mboweni that China was not solely to blame for the local textile and clothing industry’s woes.
Mpahlwa was cheered at Cosatu’s recent congress as a result of the quota deal, while Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka received a cold reception.
The conference also saw a display of thousands of pieces of cloth hanging from lengths of string, each one representing a job lost in the textile industry. — Sapa