Get your locally made face masks on the Proudly SA portal

Proudly SA has launched a dedicated marketplace portal to help South Africans source locally made fabric face masks and enable the clothing and textile industry to retain jobs.

On 23 April, President Cyril Ramaphosa recommended that members of the public wear non-medical masks outside of their homes due to a shortage of surgical masks in the private and public health sectors

After a week of working on the portal, the marketplace went live on the Proudly SA website on 24 April.

According to Proudly SA CEO Eustace Mashimbye, the initiative will support a sector of the economy that is able to meet the current demand for fabric face masks.

“It is imperative that we support our local businesses that have the capacity to produce sufficient masks to meet the country’s needs,” said Mashimbye.

The concept arose from discussions with the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU), the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the Manufacturing Circle.

Mashimbye added that all companies listed on the portal have been confirmed by the Clothing Bargaining Council as genuine manufactures producing locally made fabric masks, “supporting local jobs and operating under conditions that promote the health and safety of workers, among other things.”

In order to help consumers select masks, the portal has provided a link to the fabric mask guidelines as published by the DTIC.

The site also links corporate buyers with producers of masks.

“We call on all corporates and retailers to use the portal to source their masks and to liberate any medical grade stock back to essential services,” said Mashimbye.

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