Gendered Labour in The 

Clothing and Textile Industry in 

Johannesburg 

How do women employed in garment factories experience the gendered nexus of paid 

and unpaid labour in their daily lives? 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

Rozeena Das 

Supervisor: Prof Bridget Kenny 

 

 

 

 

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 

Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts 

(Labour and Economic Sociology)  

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

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Declaration 

 

I declare this research report is my own work.  It is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree 

of Master of Arts in Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not 

been submitted before for any other degree or examination at any other university. 

 

X
Rozeena Das

 



 

 

 

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Abstract 

Women garment workers experience gendered labour both in paid garment labour and in 

unpaid social reproductive labour. This research explores how women employed in garment 

factories in Johannesburg experience the nexus of paid and unpaid labour in their daily lives. 

The report investigates the structure of the garment industry, the working conditions and gender 

relations in contemporary Johannesburg, the daily experience of women garment workers on 

the factory floor and in their homes, the impact of this on their emotional and physical well-

being and lastly, how women make meaning of their and experiences of multiple roles of 

providers, migrants, garment workers and caregivers.  

Adopting a qualitative approach, this research incorporates evidence from literature, in-depth 

semi-structured interviews, and observations. This study argues that women’s experiences of 

both forms of paid and unpaid labour are not divided into separate spheres but are rather 

overlapping and interconnected. Thus, paid, and unpaid labour are experienced within a 

gendered nexus.   

  



 

 

 

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Acknowledgements 

 

A journey that has truly tested my strength and discipline. I could not have undertaken this journey 

without the guidance of my supervisor, Prof. Bridget Kenny. Thank you so much for your invaluable 

input and patience. 

In addition, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the incredible garment workers who took 

time out of their lives to share their stories with me. I am also grateful to all the garment factory owners 

and managers who granted me access to the factories and workers- without this, this research would not 

have been possible.  

Lastly, to my family and friends, thank you so much for your constant support and encouragement 

throughout this journey.  



 

 

 

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Contents 

 
1 . Introduction 6 

1.1 Introduction 7 

1.2 Problem Statement 9 

1.3 Research Questions 10 

2 . Literature Review 11 

2.1 Johannesburg’s garment industry and gendered labour 12 

2.2 Double burden of labour 17 

3 Methodology 26 

3.1 Methodology 27 

3.2 Research Site 27 

3.3 Data Collection and Sampling 29 

3.4 Limitations 33 

3.5 Ethical Considerations 34 

4 . Working conditions and gendered labour of garment factories in Johannesburg 38 

4.1 Contemporary garment factories located in Johannesburg 39 

4.2 Gendered Labour of contemporary garment factories located in Johannesburg 47 

5 . Experiences of women employed in the garment industry with multiple forms of labour 55 

5.1 The daily experiences of paid and unpaid social reproductive labour by women employed in 

the garment industry. 56 

5.2 The Interplay between paid and unpaid labour for women employed as garment factory 

workers. / “Basically, I live at work and sleep at home” 62 

6 . How women employed in garment factories in Johannesburg make meaning and understand 

their roles. 70 

6.1 How Women make meaning of their roles as Providers 71 

6.2 How women make meaning as migrant labourers 73 

6.3 How women make meaning of their roles in paid labour 81 

6.4 How women make meaning of their roles in unpaid labour 83 

7 . Conclusion 86 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

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1 . Introduction 

  



 

 

 

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1.1 Introduction 

 

Traditional gender roles in society have cast men as the breadwinner, the family's main 

financial provider whereas women are cast as caregivers, usually, the housewife that partakes 

in unpaid social reproductive work such as cooking, cleaning, and caring for family members 

(Bear & Glick, 2017). However, today much has changed as most women’s lives are dominated 

by paid employment yet to some degree they are still ascribed to roles in unpaid social 

reproductive labour in the home (Mezzadri & Majumder, 2020).  

The increase of women in paid employment in the global south has been mostly associated 

with low-paid work, poor working conditions, unskilled labour, and precarious labour - in the 

case of South Africa this has been no different. In the South African context, women are 

'pushed' into the labour market out of the financial and social need, rather than ‘pulled’ into the 

labour market out of demand for ‘women’s work’ (Casale, 2004). Women’s labour in South 

Africa is often precarious in nature which is characterised by labour markets that reproduce 

gender-based inequalities in income, work-related benefits, and social security (Malibo, 2018). 

This research brings together both these forms of gendered labour - unpaid social reproductive 

labour and paid garment labour. This research intended to explore women’s experiences in two 

forms of gendered labour, by exploring what the working conditions are of women employed 

in South African clothing factories and exploring women’s home life and the unpaid gendered 

social reproduction that they partake in. The overall aim of this research was to determine how 

the interconnected burdens of wage labour and unpaid social reproductive labour affect the 

overall experiences of labour and the and physical and mental well-being of the women worker 

through addressing the main question of this research; How do women employed in garment 

factories experience the nexus of paid and unpaid labour in their daily lives?     

The clothing industry served as the chosen site for this research as the industry is known to be 

dominated by women workers and characterized by gendered labour practices (Collins, 2009). 

According to Mosoetsa (2005), a high concentration of women has been documented in the 

footwear, clothing, and textile industry in South Africa. Hence these have been viewed as 

‘women industries’. These industries are synonymous with the exploitation of women, 

characterised by low wages and poor working conditions (Mosoetsa, 2005). In addition, the 

city of Johannesburg is known to have a fashion district, comprising various garment factories 



 

 

 

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(Rogerson, 2006; Joynt & Webster, 2011). Moreover, the city of Johannesburg attracts workers 

from all over South Africa and other African countries. Thus, women garment workers in the 

city of Johannesburg serve as a relevant site to explore how the nexus of gendered paid factory 

labour and the gendered nature of social reproductive work affect the experiences and well-

being of women.  

The analysis focuses on the role that paid and unpaid gendered labour plays in the lives of 

garment workers in Johannesburg through shaping their daily experiences, by bringing together 

the data collected from semi-structured in-depth interviews with four factory managers and 

nine garment workers and my observations. The findings are presented in three chapters. In 

chapter four, Working conditions and gendered labour of garment factories in Johannesburg, 

chapter five Experiences of women employed in the garment industry with multiple forms of 

labour, and chapter six How women employed in garment factories in Johannesburg make 

meaning and understand their roles.  

The empirical findings of this research show that women employed in the garment industry 

undertake paid labour in the factories and unpaid labour in the home. They often experienced 

an interplay between both forms of labour as social reproductive responsibilities overflow into 

working hours and vice versa. Additionally, the findings indicated that labour served as a 

central aspect in the lives of the women as they structured their lives around paid labour and 

social reproductive tasks. Moreover, the findings showed that besides garment workers, the 

women took on multiple simultaneous roles such as providers, migrants, mothers and partners 

and they all had various ways in which they understood and made meaning of these roles.   

The findings of this study demonstrate that paid labour and unpaid social reproductive labour 

are not neatly divided into separate spheres. Instead, they are interconnected and overlapping. 

Supporting the thesis that women’s experiences of paid and unpaid labour are experienced 

within a gendered nexus. 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

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1.2 Problem Statement 

 

Since the rise of globalisation and the deregulation of labour in the 1980’s there has been an 

increase in women’s participation in the labour force, this phenomenon is referred to as the 

feminization of labour (Standing, 1989; Akorsu, 2016). According to Akorsu (2016), neoliberal 

economic globalisation with its connected free trade is the single most cause that has led to the 

increase of the feminisation of labour. Globalisation and free trade have sought out cheap 

labour which has resulted in the transfer of production to economies with cheaper labour, 

mostly in the global South. Additionally, it has led to increased fragmented production 

flexibility and labour flexibility. Women have traditionally been marginalised into domestic, 

informal, and casual labour which seems to offer them the opportunity to hold employment and 

maintain their household responsibilities (Akorsu, 2016). In addition, women’s characteristics 

have become more desirable for certain sectors and have transformed women into a pool of 

labour (Akorsu, 2016). Woman are seen as timid and willing to work for less wages, they are 

seen as to have limited education and thus unaware of their labour rights and they are seen to 

have innate abilities and a malleable nature which are desirable for capitalists, especially in 

garment, textile, and technology industries (Akorsu, 2016). Therefore, feminization of labour 

is driven by a complex combination of demographic, cultural, and economic elements 

(Standing, 1989; Akorsu, 2016).   

Since women’s increased participation in the labour market there has been much focus in the 

literature on women juggling/maintaining a work-life balance. As women that participate in 

the labour force face a double burden of labour of paid work and unpaid domestic work 

(Fleetwood, 2007). 

Regarding the garment industry and woman workers there is plenty of literature that focuses 

on gendered garment labour and the appalling working conditions that women workers face 

globally, in Sri Lankan export-processing zones (Hancock et al, 2015), in Bangladeshi ready-

made garment factories (Akhter et al, 2019), maquiladoras in Mexico (Domínguez et al, 2010), 

and the garment industry in Lesotho (Dyer, 2001). However, in the South African context much 

of the literature focuses on garment labour in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and parts of 

the Free State (Natrass & Seekings, 2012). Regarding the city of Johannesburg, much of the 

literature provides an historical perspective on garment labour as the focus is on white garment 

labour from the 1920s to the 50s (Touyz, 1979; Witz, 1988; Hart, et al, 1989; Brink, 1984). 



 

 

 

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However, in terms of contemporary literature on garment labour and workers in Johannesburg 

there is a gap in the literature as there is little to no focus no on the experiences of women 

garment workers specifically in the context of Johannesburg, which is what this study aims to 

provide. 

 

1.3 Research Questions 

 

This research report intends to answer the following questions that are intrinsically embedded 

in the research:  

● What are the working conditions in garment factories situated in Johannesburg? 

● What is the gender composition in garment factories in Johannesburg?  

● What are the experiences of women employed in the garment industry in paid labour 

and unpaid social reproductive labour? 

● What is the interplay of paid labour and unpaid labour in the lives of women employed 

in the garment industry? 

● What are the experiences of migrant women employed in the garment industry? 

● How do women employed in the garment industries make meaning, understand, and 

perceive their roles?  

● How is the well-being of women employed in the garment industry affected by their 

roles in labour? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



 

 

 

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2 . Literature Review 

  



 

 

 

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This chapter provides a review of the literature concerning the main question of this research; 

How do women employed in garment factories experience the nexus of paid and unpaid labour 

in their daily lives? The review focuses on three main themes on the topic which emerge 

throughout the literature on the topic and the findings of this research. These themes are the 

impact of globalisation on the South African garment and textile industry and the gendered 

labour that characterises garment work, the double-burden of labour women face and the 

multiple roles they engage in and lastly, gender and migrant labour in relation to garment work.  

In order to gauge the question, the review of literature aims to provide an overview of the 

structure of the garment sector in Johannesburg, highlight the dual roles and significance of 

women in paid and unpaid labour and detail the experiences of migrant women. 

 

2.1 Johannesburg’s garment industry and gendered labour  

 

Globalisation  

It is of importance to begin this discussion by looking at the production system that shapes 

global capitalism as it is inherently linked to labour in the global south. Gereffi & Korzeniewicz 

(1994) note trade liberalisation led to nations participating in global manufacturing chains by 

specialising in different branches of manufacturing at various stages within a specific industry. 

This has led to the emergence of a global manufacturing system and global commodity chain 

in which the production of commodities is outsourced amongst several developing as well as 

industrialised countries. This is particularly the situation for the textile and garment sector. 

According to Gereffi & Korzeniewicz (1994), manufactures and retailers mostly located in the 

global north (such as big apparel brands e.g., Nike, GAP, etc.) have established an international 

trade network that stretches amongst a vast geographical distance around the globe. This type 

of commodity chain is referred to as a buyer-driven commodity chain as industries such as 

large apparel retailers set up a dispersed production network in a variety of exporting countries 

mostly located in the global south. A buyer-driven commodity chain involves buyer companies 

providing the specification of designs or tasks located often in the global north (or located 

within the chain at the controlling node of power) to various manufactures or factories that 

manufacture, package and ship all around the world from the global south. This process is 

primarily carried out through the management of trade networks (raw material and component 



 

 

 

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suppliers, manufacturers, factories, traders, overseas buyers, and retailers) to ensure that 

products come together as an integrated whole from various locations around the globe. The 

rise of global competition has reshaped trade and production and thus changed industries such 

as the clothing and textile industry. A buyer-driven commodity chain within the clothing and 

textile industry is characterised by multiple small labour-intensive factories that offer low-wage 

labour (such as sweatshops) and flexible organising that attract foreign investment and increase 

competitiveness in the specific industry (Gereffi & Korzeniewicz, 1994). Appelbaum & 

Lichtenstein (2006) note that globalisation is a result of policy choices and has shifted power 

from the manufacturer to retail distribution and from an economy centred on high-wage men 

to one where the flexible low-wage labour of women is crucial.  

According to Vlok (2006), before democratisation in 1994 the clothing and textile industry in 

South Africa remained protected from international trade and competition, focusing on the 

domestic market and import substitution. After apartheid, South Africa joined The World Trade 

Organization (WTO) and opened its markets to international trade. In the 1990s the value of 

the Rand depreciated steadily leading to undervaluation which allowed the industry to increase 

exports and remain competitive against imports. However, in the 2000s the value of the Rand 

appreciated and much of the export performance disappeared. Moreover, the increasing 

liberalisation over trade and the reduction of tariff barriers saw a surge in imports primarily 

from China, as China has lower production costs and imports from China are cheaper. This 

resulted in a crisis in the South African clothing and textile industry characterised by a major 

loss of employment (Vlok, 2006) as many clothing and textile factories relocated to rural areas 

or to countries such as Botswana and Lesotho to take advantage of cheaper labour (Joynt & 

Webster, 2016). 

According to Joynt & Webster (2016) the fashion district of inner-city of Johannesburg, 

Gauteng was once a prosperous hub for South Africa’s clothing and textile industry on the 

Witwatersrand in 1920s and 30s (see also Dos Santos, 2009) which was previously 

characterised by large full-package manufactures (FPMs), which handle the whole 

manufacturing process of clothing by designing, sourcing materials and producing the entire 

garment start to finish (Joynt & Webster, 2016). However, as a result of trade liberalisation and 

international competition, today the inner city of Johannesburg has only a few FMPs as the 

industry is decentralised and instead characterised by hundreds of smaller informal and 

unregulated cuts, make and trim factories (CMTs), which only assemble garments based off 



 

 

 

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given designs and materials. Many of these CMT’s operate in run-down hijacked buildings that 

have been abandoned by their owners in the inner city’s fashion district  (Joynt & Webster, 

2016) whereas the big design houses and independent fashion designers that put Johannesburg 

on the fashion map operate in the city’s more commercially developed suburbs located in the 

North, away from the city centre (Rogerson, 2006). CMT's in inner-city Johannesburg are 

characterised by African migrant labourers with advanced skills in stitching and embroidery 

specialising in African prints, bridal gowns, curtains, custom items, etc. (Joynt & Webster, 

2016).  

Joynt &Webster (2016) note, “The majority of the enterprises in the Fashion District are linked 

to small, primarily domestic, value chains, and there are few production links from larger 

factories in the district to the SMEs in surrounding areas. For the most part, Fashion District 

factories are neither export-orientated nor linked to international brand names.” (p.51). There 

are four main types of clothing enterprises identified in the Johannesburg ‘fashion district’. (1)  

FMP’s: are connected to the value chain, contracted to large brands and retailers. They are 

formal and regulated, workers are unionised, are mostly local, work regular hours and receive 

bargaining council wages (Joynt & Webster, 2016). (2) Connected CMT’s: are registered, 

linked to formal production chains, connected to independent designers, or contracted to larger 

FMPs to produce clothing for niche designer markets and in rare cases international markets. 

The workers are both local and migrants, workers are not unionised, but they work regular 

hours and receive bargaining council wages. (3) Piecework CMT: lacks a design house, relies 

on irregular contracts, could be registered and they supply local designers or small retailers. 

The workers are local and migrants; there is no worker unionisation; they work irregular hours, 

and wages are paid by piece and employment is precarious (Joynt & Webster, 2016). Lastly 

(4) survivalist CMT’s and micro-enterprises: are not linked to design houses nor tenders, they 

supply small retail stores, street traders, and individual customers, they are unregistered and 

unregulated, and the workers are mostly migrants; there is no worker unionisation; workers are 

paid per piece produced and working hours are irregular and employment is precarious. This 

type of CMT is mostly male migrant-owned and employs male migrants and is typically based 

in small rooms in tall buildings in the inner city which are often cramped and stuffy (Joynt & 

Webster, 2016). Thus, the international competition resulted in the restructuring of the clothing 

industry in inner-city Johannesburg which in turn created a precarious class of workers (Von 

Holdt & Webster, 2008). The rise of new precarious workers in the industry has weakened the 

collective organised labour due to the fragmentation of the labour market from the 



 

 

 

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decentralisation of production and the increase in casual part-time work (Joynt & Webster, 

2016). 

Beyond clothing factories in the inner city of Johannesburg, Nattrass & Seekings (2012) note 

that the South African clothing industry is the most laborious sector of South Africa’s 

manufacturing industry. The industry consists of various divisions with different product 

specialisations, “these include a high waged and less labour-intensive sector producing good-

quality garments for high-income markets and a low waged, more labour-intensive sector” 

(Nattrass & Seekings, 2012, p.1), mostly located in KZN, Free State, and Western Cape. That 

produce basic clothing for middle to low-income consumers (Nattrass & Seekings, 2012).  

Now that it is clear how the garment industry in contemporary Johannesburg is structured, in 

the following section I move to discuss the type of labour that characterises garment work, with 

a specific focus on the gender relations of labour in the South African garment industry.  

 Gendered Garment Labour  

Typically, global garment work is associated with women’s labour. In the late 1960s a new 

type of employment in production/manufacturing clothing and textile factories became 

available for many poor women in the global south (Elson & Pearson,1981; Chapkins & 

Enloe,1983), due to multinational corporations relocating labour-intensive production lines 

from developed countries to cheaper production sites in the global south in the1960s (Caraway, 

2007). The labour required for production and manufacturing is typically viewed as ‘low-skill’ 

and is inherently linked to gender as work in the clothing and textile industry such as sewing 

is perceived as innately ‘women’s work’. Furthermore, Elson & Pearson (1981) note, it is 

widely viewed that female labour is cheaper and more productive than male labour. These 

gendered stereotypes and divisions of labour are based on perceived 'natural' personality traits, 

capacities, and needs. Women's 'nimble fingers' are believed to be better suited and more 

productive for work with clothing and textiles, women are thought to be more docile, willing 

to do more work through discipline and more suited to repetitive work than men (Elson & 

Pearson, 1981). In terms of lower wages, it is believed that women do not need as much money 

as men as they are not socially perceived as the sole provider for their families, and it is also 

due to women being perceived as having secondary status in the labour market due to their 

capacity to bear children which in most cases take women out of the labour market (Elson & 

Pearson, 1981). Elson and Pearson (1981) argue that though there are differences between men 

and women as factory workers, these differences are far from natural. Moreover, Caraway 



 

 

 

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(2007) notes that exporters competing in global markets are sensitive to labour costs with 

gendered consequences. Exporters hire women based on their subordinate position to men 

which means they could be paid lower wages thus export-orientation and patriarchy combine 

to construct women as an ideal workforce (Caraway, 2007).  

In South Africa, the garment industry has been historically dominated by women workers 

(Baker, 1962; Brink, 1986; Berger, 1992). In more recent research, a study by Tager (2016) on 

women in the clothing and textile industry in South Africa (unidentified site) based on 

interviews with SACTWU shop stewards in 2014, identified that gender was a major theme 

that arose as many of wage and factory conditions were directly related to gender with male 

managers and female workers. Many of the shop stewards were male who represented female-

dominated factories. In terms of the workforce, the women workers operated sewing machines 

whereas the males were in higher positions as stock assistants or clerks. The working conditions 

for women involved lack of benefits (maternity leave), discrimination for pregnancy, unsafe 

and unsanitary working conditions, pressures to meet quotas and low wages. Moreover, women 

workers in South African clothing factories faced discrimination on an intersectional basis of 

class, gender, and race. Shop stewards noted that women workers were placed in an inferior 

position based on their position in the labour market as factory workers, on the basis of their 

gender "as females facing male supervisors, makes it difficult for them to assert their demands" 

(Tager, 2016, p. 40). Similarly, Karrim (2011), found that the majority of female employees 

that made up the clothing and textile industry work under awful working conditions. This 

emerged from raids on 12 Chinese-owned factories in Newcastle KwaZulu-Natal, by the 

police, departments of labour and home affairs, the National Bargaining Council and the South 

African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU). They found that garment and textile 

workers at these factories were being paid less than R489, which is less than the weekly 

minimum wage stipulated by the council. The workers were also subjected to a poor working 

environment and treatment. The workers at these foreign owned factories never received toilet 

paper and any injured factory workers were left outside the building, so the factory owners 

could avoid being held accountable for an injury. Moreover, the garment workers were strip 

searched, “We have to open our bras and lower our underwear in front of all the other workers. 

When we have our periods, they make us take off our sanitary pads. They don’t care that there 

are men around or that they’re insulting my culture” (Karrim, 2011, Mail & Guardian). Overall, 

it was found that the female majority garment worker's human and labour rights were being 

violated. On the contrary, Joynt & Webster (2016) found that Johannesburg's clothing industry 



 

 

 

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was dominated by male garment workers. According to Joynt & Webster (2016), many 

informal CMT's in the inner-city fashion district are owned by majority migrant male's and the 

employees were predominantly male migrants from other African countries. 

This section provided an overview of the production systems that shape global capitalism, the 

impact of globalisation on the South African garment industry and the structure of the 

contemporary garment industry in the inner city of Johannesburg. In addition, this section 

provided a gender profile of garment labour. Given that women garment workers are the focus 

of this research, in the next section I examine women's daily roles and experiences both on the 

factory floor and in their home.  

2.2  Double burden of labour 

 

Women are often ascribed to a double burden of labour - of paid labour and unpaid social 

reproductive labour (Sengupta & Sachdeva, 2017). Even in cases involving families wherein 

both partners have full-time paid employment women are often left with the responsibility and 

spend more time on domestic labour than men (Hochschild & Machung, 2012). Hochschild & 

Machung (2012) note that the social reproductive labour that women take on in the home after 

a day of paid labour in the  workplace can be referred to as a ‘second shift’ of labour, moreover 

they note that the gendered nature of social reproductive labour is due to the internalisation of 

traditional gender roles by both partners in a family hence men and women both believe that it 

is the women’s job to take on the majority of domestic labour in the home. This division of 

labour is true for South Africa as well (Mosoetsa, 2011; Fakier & Cock, 2009; Budlender, 

2010).   

Unpaid social reproductive work in the home has always been socially constructed as gendered 

‘women’s work’ and is still mostly performed by women (Federici, 2012). Housework has been 

imposed on women and "transformed into a natural attribute of our female physique and 

personality, an internal need, an aspiration, supposedly coming from the depths of our female 

character" (Federici, 2012, p. 16) thus framing social reproductive work as something other 

than work. Unpaid social reproductive work in the home can take the form of (a) biological 

reproduction and the sexual, emotional, and affective conditions to maintain 

motherhood/family and intimate relationships; (b) reproduction of the labour force involving 

subsistence, education, and training;  and, (c) unpaid production in the home of goods, services, 



 

 

 

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the provisioning of care and the social provisioning of needs in the community (e.g., voluntary 

work) (Rai et al., 2014; Bakker, 2007). 

Unpaid social reproductive work in the home is directly linked to capitalism and paid 

employment as human labour reproduces society. More specifically, social reproduction such 

as 'familial' and 'communitarian' labour serves to sustain and reproduce the workers and their 

labour power as a commodity for capitalism (Chattopadhyay,1999). An aspect of the social 

reproduction of labour power occurs through the home/family as it forms a site where labour 

is replenished through the availability of food, clothing, shelter, and rest (Bhattacharya, 2017). 

Though the home might be a space where workers reproduce their labour power, the gendered 

nature of social reproduction means that women workers that take on social reproduction also 

maintain the labour power of other members of the family as they are fed, clothed, and rested 

(Heitlinger, 1979).  The understanding of capitalism is incomplete if we do not consider how 

social reproduction reproduces capitalism – “the daily and generational reproduction that 

occurs in households, hospitals, schools, etc. that sustains the drive for accumulation” 

((Ferguson, 2015) as cited in (Bhattacharya, 2017, p. 2)).  

In the South African context, Benya (2015), highlights the role of women’s unpaid social 

reproductive labour in the context of the Marikana mine strikes of 2012 which brings together 

the world of work and home. Social reproductive labour is not merely just ‘housework’. 

Instead, it is work done for the benefit of capitalists and its reproduction as worker’s ability to 

perform their best to maximise surplus value, this depends on the unpaid work of women 

(Brown et al, 2013 as cited in Benya, 2015). Benya (2015) notes, in the mining town of 

Marikana, North West, the women are mostly positioned as the partners to the mineworkers. 

These women take care and look after the migrant mine workers on a daily basis more than 

their wives who remain in the mine worker’s place of origin. The women of Marikana service 

the men, fetch water, prepare meals, wash dirty laundry, and reproduce their labour. They have 

children, raise children, and take care of the mineworkers when they are ill. As mistresses these 

women remain in precarious positions often dependent on the wages of the men. This means 

that they are “at the beck and call of their male partners, their lives dictated by men and the 

mines” (Benya, 2015, p.547). These women do most of the work that reproduces the daily 

conditions of mineworkers. The men’s low wages are also subsidised by women’s unpaid 

labour and without the unpaid labour of these women the men would not be productive 

workers. In the wake of Marikana mine strikes and the massacre, Benya (2015) states the lives 



 

 

 

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of the women of Marikana are greatly affected by the mines and mine working shifts as their 

daily conversations revolve around the events of the mine. Their partners wages determine 

whether they can purchase basic necessities and mine shifts determine their activities for the 

day. During the miners’ strike the women were highly involved. They would support each other 

when their partners did not return home from the mines, and they provided food for 

mineworkers hiding from police harassment. Moreover, women also played a key role in 

mobilising and sustaining the mineworker strike and at the Commission of Inquiry on behalf 

of mineworkers who could not attend due to injury. Therefore, Benya (2015) argues that 

women of Marikana are central to the accumulation to capital but also central to resisting it 

through their roles in mine wage strikes: “Rather, we need to see women’s reproductive 

activities as critical in simultaneously holding together the mines and shaping their politics of 

production” (p.556). Similarly, Fakir & Cock (2009) argue that African working-class women 

are the shock absorbers of the crisis of social reproduction in South Africa.    

Based on literature, unpaid social reproductive labour is often viewed as something other than 

work. Folbre & Nelson (2000) state that the term ‘homemaking’ is often used to describe 

women’s unpaid work in the home due to the nature of caring activities mixed with household 

production and is often presented as a ‘labour of love’. However, this division lumps together 

the difference between physical care labour and emotional labour. This blurs the physical 

labour involved in unpaid social reproduction and represents the feelings of fatigue and 

irritation as that involved in emotional labour (Hochschild, 2002; Fakir & Cock, 2009).  

Similarly, the literature on garment labour often frames garment factory labour predominantly 

done by women as ‘unskilled’ labour. Morris & Barnes (2014) notes that the labour-intensive 

nature of the apparel sector allows the sector to absorb large numbers of ‘unskilled’ labour. 

According to English (2013), gendered notions of labour and wages resulted in men holding 

textile jobs that involve strength, skills, and specialised training in roles such as managers, shop 

floor supervisors and machine fixers. Whereas women hold ‘unskilled positions’ such as 

machinists and spoolers, these positions have lower wages and lesser responsibility (English, 

2013). English (2013) states that introduction of new technology in the apparel and textile 

industry broke down the production of garments into smaller and smaller tasks, sometimes into 

hundreds of discrete operations. This led to deskilling as it removed the skill required to make 

a garment from fabric to a ready-to-wear product (English, 2013). Garment factory work is 

mostly framed as ‘unskilled’ labour globally (English, 2013). However, literature centred 



 

 

 

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around research on the experiences of women garment workers often frame garment work as 

skilled and garment workers as possessing expertise in sewing. Based on ethnographic 

fieldwork amongst garment workers in Trinidad, Prentice (2012) found that learning to sew 

provides Trinidadian women with the ‘technical skill’ to create livelihood strategies through 

paid wage labour as garment factory workers or petty production for a private client base. 

Prentice (2012) notes that garment making requires two skills for cutting and stitching. Cutting 

involves mapping out patterns and executing it onto material. This involves “visualizing, 

measuring, designing, drawing, plotting, and cutting fabric with scissors” (p.403).  Stitching 

involves sewing pieces of fabric together either by hand or sewing machine to create a ready-

to-wear garment. Prentice (2012) states that for garment workers, describing themselves as 

dressmakers or into sewing is more than just an occupational identity. Instead, it is a phrase 

that invokes their cherished expertise. The factory, sewing school and the home are all sites to 

acquire and attain sewing expertise (Prentice, 2012). Similarly, Lynch (1999) states that there 

are technical skills that are involved in garment work that workers need to master.  For instance, 

machinists have a vast list of skills to master such as sewing seams in various patterns, sewing 

on different types of electric industrial sewing machines, threading various types of fabric. 

Moreover, besides sewing skills, garment workers need to master efficacy on the production 

line, machinists need to master the skill of minimizing any injury such as back pain and other 

bodily pain (Lynch, 1999). Rauch (1996) addresses the social construction of skill amongst 

female garment workers in Vancouver. Rauch (1996) states that the labour of garment workers 

is socially constructed as being of low-value and low-skill both within the factory and outside 

of the factory. However, based on ethnographic observation on the shopfloor and interviews 

with workers, management, and unions, it was found that despite the efforts of managerial staff 

to create the perceptions of ‘unskilled’ work and workers, garment workers are knowledgeable 

and competent on the job (Rauch, 1996).  

Now that women’s double burden of labour and their importance and skill set in these spheres 

have been discussed. The subsequent section will focus on the multiple roles and 

responsibilities women take on in their nexus of paid and unpaid labour. 

 

 

 



 

 

 

21 

 

Multiple Roles  

The double-burden of labour that women experience often positions them in multiple roles. 

According to Sumra & Schillaci (2015), women that balance paid labour outside of their home 

along with their domestic responsibilities engage simultaneously in multiple roles. According 

to Sumra & Schillaci (2015), “the engagement in multiple roles has been regarded as a key 

characteristic of female identity” (p.3).  Multiple roles are often associated with the construct 

of the female ‘superwoman’ identity. The superwoman identity refers to a woman who adopts 

multiple roles such as mother, partner, worker, caregiver, sister, etc. (Sumra & Schillaci, 2015).  

The literature around the ‘superwoman’ identity often posits the identity construct in relation 

to the double-burden of fulfilling both career and domestic obligations (Sumra & Schillaci, 

2015, Newell, 1993; Xhaho, 2021).  In the South African context, the roles of women are 

amplified due to the prevalence of woman-headed households because of the high rates of 

father absence in South Africa (Chauke & Khunou, 2014). According to McLanahan & Teitler 

(1998), single mothers are forced to play two roles- that of father and mother. Hence single 

mothers may experience higher stress levels (McLanahan & Teitler, 1998).  

Contrary to the literature that dismisses the gendered labour experiences of female garment 

workers, both Wright (2013) and Gunawardana (2016) furthermore address the effect of this 

double burden of labour by assessing the well-being of female garment workers.   

Wright (2013) unpacks the myth of the ‘disposable third-world women’ in global capitalism 

and argues that it is the dominant discourse of neoliberal economic development. According to 

Wright (2013), the myth of the ‘disposable woman’ is centred around a young woman from the 

global south, who through time employed at the factory, losses her value until she is 

‘worthless’. This occurs a process of ‘wasting away’ within factories that employ women, as it 

is perceived that shortly after her employment, she loses the physical and mental capacities 

(due to exploitative working conditions) required to do her job thus she is only worth less than 

the cost of her dismissal and replacement. This myth is based on the explanation that the 

process of wasting away is a natural outcome and thus nothing can be done to avoid the result. 

Wright (2013) states that this myth is used by global capitalism and owners/managers of 

factories in the third world to justify exploitative labour conditions but to also view third-world 

women as disposable devalued labour and to gender woman workers in the third world to the 

point that they are reduced to mere characteristics valuable to capitalism such as a pool of 

surplus population and other physical characteristics that are of value (nimble fingers). From 



 

 

 

22 

 

this, capitalism extracts the value till these women result in waste to be disposed of (Wright, 

2006). Similarly, Gunawardana (2016) argues that both dual roles for women, to carry out 

social reproduction in the home and wage labour in clothing factories bring gendered harm and 

deplete the women worker until she is no more, as factory work does not provide adequate 

resources to replenish for labour reproduction, such as enough time to rest and money to buy 

healthy food and shelter. This often results in depletion in the form of physical injuries which 

hinder women from carrying out factory labour (Gunawardana, 2016). 

This section tackles the notions that dismiss gendered social reproductive work as something 

other than work and gendered garment labour as unskilled labour. By highlighting the 

significance of unpaid social reproductive labour done by women and by emphasising the skills 

required for garment work. Moreover, this section stresses the double burden of labour that 

women face along the multiple roles they take on and impact of this on their wellbeing. In the 

following section I discuss garment labour and gendered migration in the context of 

Johannesburg. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

23 

 

2.3 Migration and labour 

Migration and Garment Work  

Given that the findings of this research indicate that there are migrants prevalent in the labour 

supply to garment factories in the city of Johannesburg, it is important to discuss the relation 

of migrant labour to garment work. Migration due to work is one of the primary reasons for 

international mobility globally (ACMS, 2022). In the global context, internal migration for 

garment work has been a common occurrence in countries with a thriving garment industry. 

The literature shows that rural to urban migration is common among women in search of 

garment factory jobs in Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, India, and Lesotho amongst many other 

countries (Patwary, 2022; Withers & Piper, 2018; Gim, 2019; Botea, et al, 2018). However, in 

the context of Johannesburg, rural to urban migration for garment work was more common 

before South Africa joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and opened up its markets to 

international trade resulting in increased imports. Brink (1986) and Hart & Parnell (2012) note 

that the growth of the garment industry in Johannesburg during 1915-1939 attracted women in 

search of work. Hence Afrikaner women from the impoverished countryside in the rural areas 

migrated to Johannesburg (Brink, 1986; Hart & Parnell, 2012). However, unlike the majority 

of findings that indicate rural to urban migration for work in garment factories, the 

contemporary labour force at garment factories in Johannesburg mostly comprises locals and 

external African immigrants from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Botswana and Mozambique as 

aforementioned by Joynt &Webster (2016). 

In the next section I examine migration to Johannesburg relative to gender. 

Gendered experiences of migration  

The city of Johannesburg, South Africa is a place where many South Africans and migrants 

come in search for better lives and improved livelihoods (Isike & Isike, 2012; Walker & 

Oliveira, 2022). Grant & Thompson (2015) note that the city of Johannesburg is a 

characteristically a migrant city. After the end of apartheid, the inner-city of Johannesburg has 

been witnessed an influx of African immigrants along with informal trade networks and 

international migration circuits (Grant & Thompson, 2015). Walker & Oliveira (2022) note 

that for some the city represents a place of hope and refuge, yet the city is only home to only 

few of the residents. For some people the city of Johannesburg represents an entanglement of 



 

 

 

24 

 

hope, desperation, poverty, possibility, and disappointment. According to Walker & Oliveira 

(2022), these paradoxes are more acute to women migrants who are both poor and Black.  

According to Kihato (2007), early literature on migration in Johannesburg mostly framed 

migration as “consequence of regional economic imbalances and employment” (p.90) and 

centred male migrants and the demand for ‘productive male labour’. However, Kihato (2007) 

notes that this discounted women as “analytically and economically unimportant” (p.90). 

Moreover, Kihato (2007) states that literature that discusses women as migrant labourers often 

frames women as passive subjects in the migration process as they often only portray women 

migrants as an accessory, accompanying male migrants, or they discuss woman as receiving 

remittances from migrant men. However, Kihato (2007) notes that with the increase of female 

migration, population movements, the growing interest in gender studies, etc. has resulted in 

centring the migration experiences of women in migration literature. Yet this has often solely 

focused on the negative such as women's vulnerability and coercion into exploitative labour. 

Kihato (2007) states that this reproduces “women’s perceived passivity and lack of agency in 

the migration process” (p.91). Moreover, this perspective often frames women as victims that 

need to be ‘saved’ and makes the lives of migrant women invisible (Kihato, 2007).  

In her own study of women migrants from neighbouring African countries in the inner-city of 

Johannesburg and surrounding areas, Kihato (2007) found that women who have migrated to 

Johannesburg indicated that their migration and their lives were difficult as they often face an 

intersection of vulnerabilities such as economic marginalisation, physical danger, patriarchal 

oppression, loneliness and disruption of familial support structures yet the narratives of these 

women migrants rejected victim identities. Rather the women used terms like ‘struggle’ as a 

positive qualifier for survival. In addition, Kihato (2007) found that women were not only 

secondary participants in migration as they made their own decisions to migrate. Moreover, 

despite the fact that women migrants were less likely to have access to formal/regular paid jobs 

than men, it was found that they have similar economic profiles to men and were more likely 

to be entrepreneurial (Kihato, 2007). 

Similarly, unlike other literature that excludes, misrepresents, or underrepresents these groups, 

Walker & Oliveira (2020) explore the lived experience and needs of women migrants from the 

African continent living in Johannesburg through art-based methodologies. They position the 

women migrants as ‘experts’ of their own experiences and allow the participants to control, 

explore, and portray their lived experience on the intersections of being both a woman and a 



 

 

 

25 

 

migrant in Johannesburg (Walker & Oliveira, 2020). Through narrative stories and the creation 

of a decorative quilt by the participants, Walker & Oliveira (2020) found that migrant women 

had complex lives. They found that all the participants travelled to South Africa as either 

asylum seekers, fleeing war or instabilities in their countries of origin from countries such as 

Rwanda, DRC, and Zimbabwe. In addition, the women’s everyday experiences were shaped 

by an intersection of challenges such as issues with access to free healthcare, employment and 

schooling for their children that were tangled with gender-based violence and xenophobia 

(Walker & Oliveira, 2020). Lastly, Walker & Oliveira (2020) found that migrant women in 

Johannesburg faced issues with their identities and issues of belonging.  

Overall, the review of the literature above provided an overview of the main themes and 

concepts necessary for understanding how women employed in garment factories experience 

the nexus of paid and unpaid labour in their daily lives.  

  

  



 

 

 

26 

 

 
 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 Methodology  



 

 

 

27 

 

 

3.1 Methodology 

 

This chapter details the methods that were employed to meet the objectives of this research by 

determining How do women employed in garment factories experience the nexus of paid and 

unpaid labour in their daily lives? The chapter entails detailed descriptions of the research 

processes such as methodologies, data collection instruments, description of research site and 

sampling techniques. Moreover, this chapter includes some insights on experiences conducting 

the research, highlighting the successes and challenges and how all these contribute towards 

the analysis of information and the compiled report. 

3.2 Research Site 

 

The everyday practices of the garment workers took shape within garment factories in and 

around the inner city of Johannesburg such as Doornfontein, Troyeville, Jeppe, Selby and the 

Johannesburg CBD and within their homes located in either surrounding areas or areas situated 

on the outskirts of the city of Johannesburg, such as Soweto, Evaton, Orange Farm, Natalspruit, 

Berea, Jeppestown and Bertrams. All research was conducted at garment factories. There was 

a total of five factories involved in this study that varied in manufacturing and production types 

as detailed below: 

 

 



 

 

 

28 

 

Figure 1 Site in Context: Garment Factories in Johannesburg (source: GCRO,2022).  

Factory A: Factory A was situated in Doornfontein within a nine-story high-rise building. The 

high-rise building was characterised by many industrial, office or retail spaces in the form of 

various sized spaces or rooms, yet garment manufacturing spaces were the most commonly 

occurring such as Factory A. Factory A was housed in a small-medium sized room, that 

functioned as one manufacturing space as there was no separate areas for dedicated tasks such 

as the reception area, packing area, etc. Factory A was characterised as an informal CMT 

factory as they focused on the production process as the fabric and trims were supplied by the 

buyer. Factory A mainly produced hoodies, sweatshirts, and matric jackets. They also offered 

printing and embroidery to their clients however, this was outsourced by Factory A as they did 

not have their own machines for those services. Factory A was owned and managed by two 

black South African women.    

Factory B: Factory B was located in Maboneng, Jeppestown, within a high-rise building. This 

factory was housed in a medium-large space and the layout included separate spaces for the 

reception area, office, and factory. Factory B was a formal CMT and FPM. They mainly 

produced and manufactured corporate uniforms. Factory B was owned by a South African 

Indian man. 

Factory C: Factory C was situated in the Johannesburg CBD within a high-rise building. As in 

the case of Factory A, Factory C was housed in a small to medium sized room, that functioned 

as one manufacturing space as there were no separate areas for dedicated tasks such as the 

reception area, packing area, etc. Factory C was characterised as a small informal CMT. They 

mainly produced corporate clothing, industrial safety wear and school uniforms. Factory C was 

owned and managed by a black South African man. 

Factory D: Factory D was located in Troyeville, within a low-rise three-story building. This 

factory was housed on the entire third floor, which was a medium to large space. The layout of 

this site included a small office area in the front, the machinists’ setup in the back and the 

packing and checking section on the side. Factory D was characterised as an FPM and they 

mainly manufactured cleaners clothing, jackets, golf shirts and PPE. Factory D was owned by 

a South African Indian man and the main supervisor was a South African coloured woman.  

Factory E: Factory E was located in Selby. This site comprised two free-standing buildings. 

The smaller building was a small space that functioned as a reception and office area and the 

larger building housed the factory.  Factory E was characterised as an FMP. They mainly 



 

 

 

29 

 

manufactured medical wear, culinary wear, and sportswear. Factory E was owned by a white 

South African man. 

The face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted either in the reception 

area, outside or inside the factories. During the interview masks were worn by researcher and 

participant and social distancing was maintained. The interview process lasted approximately 

20 minutes each with the answer’s audio recorded with the given consent of the participant. 

 

3.3  Data Collection and Sampling  

 

This study aimed to determine how women employed in garment factories experience the nexus 

of paid and unpaid labour in their daily lives. The methodology underpinning the data 

collection relied on a qualitative approach, this included in-depth semi-structured qualitative 

interviews and some observation as the aim of this research was to collect detailed information 

on the experiences of women in clothing factories.  Roberts et al., (2003) argues that qualitative 

research is well suited to describe, explain and understand attitudes and human behaviours of 

a small number of participants in their natural setting as opposed to what may be considered 

the more artificial settings of quantitative surveys. The characteristics of qualitative research 

such the insider perspectives, the context sensitivity and the thick lengthy descriptions gained 

from in-depth semi structured interviews were key in determining how the nexus of gendered 

paid labour and unpaid social reproductive labour shape the everyday experience of women 

employed in garment factories. The primary method used to gather data was in-depth semi 

structured qualitative interviews as aforementioned. This interview process was similar to 

ordinary conversation as I elicited questions on topics as they arose naturally in conversation 

such as “Tell me what a typical working day looks like for you; from the time you wake up to 

the time you go to bed?”. Bless et al., (2013) argues that asking participants to comment on 

broadly concepts allows the participants the freedom to expand and reflect on their own 

experiences as they wish. In addition to in-depth semi-structured interviews, observation 

methods were utilised as a method of collecting data through watching, listening and 

documenting behaviour and events in a natural setting.  

The sample in this study consisted of thirteen participants: four garment factory managers and 

nine garment factory workers. Out of the nine garment factory workers, only two of the 



 

 

 

30 

 

participants were male. The participants were recruited through calling garment manufacturing 

companies/factories located in Johannesburg and requesting permission to visit the factory and 

hold face-to-face interviews with the factory managers/supervisors to gather information about 

the factories in addition to requesting permission to hold face-to-face interviews with female 

garment workers to gather information about their daily lives and labour experiences. The 

interview process with the factory supervisors/owners were done in a similar manner as the 

interviews with the garment workers. The factory supervisors/owners were asked questions 

around the workings of factories in terms of what type of factory it was, who they supplied to, 

how they hired staff, etc. Later in the study, it was discovered that the experiences of male 

garment workers would be of value to the study and thus two interviews with males were 

conducted as well. Besides purposive sampling, garment factory workers and managers were 

asked by the researcher to recommend other garment workers or factories as a means of 

snowball sampling, but no participants were gained through this channel.  

Below is a brief introduction to each garment worker in this study, pseudonyms are used to 

protect the participants identity: 

Stella: Stella was a 23-year-old, black woman, originally from Zimbabwe. Stella was employed 

at Factory A (informal CMT) located in Doornfontein. She worked as a general garment worker 

and her daily tasks in the factory involved doing the buying for materials or samples and 

handling the orders for the couriers to collect. In addition, she was also a trainee machinist but 

did not take on any sewing tasks. Stella was a single-mother of a two-year-old daughter. She 

lived in Bertrams with her daughter, sister and mother, less than 10 minutes away from the 

factory she was employed at.  

Patience: Patience was a 42-year-old, black woman. She was employed at Factory C (informal 

CMT) located in the Johannesburg CBD. Patience worked as a machinist. She was a single-

mother of two children, aged 13 and 17 years-old. Patience lived with her children in 

Natalspruit, which was on estimate 45 minutes away from the factory she was employed at. 

Sarah: Sarah was a 46 -year-old, black woman. She was employed at Factory C (informal 

CMT) located in the Johannesburg CBD. Sarah worked as a machinist. She was a mother of 

four children: 8-year-old twins, a 12-year-old, and a 23-year-old. Moreover, Sarah was a wife, 

her husband worked as a taxi-driver. Sarah lived in Soweto with her children and husband, 

which was an estimated 45 minutes away from the factory she was employed at. 



 

 

 

31 

 

Sharon: Sharon was a 26-year-old, black woman. She was employed at Factory D (formal 

FPM) located in Troyeville. Sharon worked as a general garment worker. Her job involved 

packaging finished garments, receiving the textiles, and doing odd jobs on the factory floor. 

Sharon was a single-mother of a seven-year-old daughter. She lived in Jeppestown with her 

daughter, which was less than 10 minutes away from the factory where she was employed. 

Rose: Rose was a 27-year-old, black woman. She was employed at Factory D (formal FPM) 

located in Troyeville. Rose was employed as a general garment worker, checker and cleaner. 

Rose was a mother of a 6-year-old daughter. She resided with her daughter and partner in 

Berea, located 15 minutes away from the factory she was employed at. 

Lauren: Lauren was a 57-year-old, black woman. She was employed at Factory E (formal FPM) 

located in Selby, Johannesburg. Lauren was employed as a production director, but her other 

roles included supervisor and machinist at times. Lauren was a single mother of three children, 

aged 37, 23 and 21-years-old. She resided in Evaton with her youngest child, which was 

typically a 45-minute commute to the factory. 

Lydia: Lydia was a 48-year-old, black woman, originally from Lesotho. She was employed at 

Factory E (FMP) as a machinist. Lydia was a single mother of three children, aged 10, 16 and 

25 years old. She resided in Orange Farm with her two younger children. Orange Farm was on 

estimate a 30 - 40-minute commute to the factory where Lydia was employed. 

Samson: Samson was a 44-year-old black man originally from Malawi. He was employed at 

Factory D as a machinist. Samson was a husband and a father to three children, aged 8, 10 and 

14 years old. He resided in Bertrams with his wife and three children. Bertrams was only 10 

minutes away from the factory.  

Dan: Dan was a 29-year-old black man originally from Malawi. He was employed at Factory 

D as a machinist. Dan was a husband and a father to one child, aged 5 years old. He resided in 

Bertrams with his wife as his child remained in his country of origin.  

Brief interviews were also conducted with four factory managers. Tyler was a 37-year-old 

South African Indian male. He was the owner and director of Factory B, and he oversaw the 

running of the business and. Tshepiso was a black South African male, he was the co-owner 

and manager of Factory C. Yolandey, was a South African Coloured woman. She was a 

supervisor at Factory D, and she oversaw the factory workers and the production process. 



 

 

 

32 

 

Lastly, there was David, a South African white male. He owned Factory E and mostly worked 

in the office and oversaw the overall running of the company.   

Listed below is an overview of all interviews conducted in this study: 

Interview 

no. 

Date of 

Interview  

Participant 

Name 

 

Job Description Factory Type Location  

1  08/08/2021  Stella  General 

worker/machinist in 

training  

Factory A: Informal 

CMT  

New 

Doornfontein 

2 08/08/2021 Tyler Factory 

manager/owner 

Factory B: formal 

FPM & CMT 

New 

Doornfontein 

3 02/12/2021 Tshepiso Factory 

manager/owner 

Factory C: Informal 

CMT 

Johannesburg 

CBD 

4 02/12/2021 Patience   Machinist Factory C: Informal 

CMT 

Johannesburg 

CBD 

5 02/12/2021 Sarah Machinist Factory C: Informal 

CMT 

Johannesburg 

CBD 

6 02/12/2021     Yolandey Factory manager Factory D: Formal 

FPM 

Troyeville 

7 02/12/2021     Sharon General garment 

worker/ receiver  

Factory D: Formal 

FPM 

Troyeville 

8 02/12/2021     Rose General garment 

worker and garment 

checker  

Factory D: Formal 

FPM 

Troyeville 

9 10/12/2021  David Manager Factory E: Formal 

FPM 

Selby 



 

 

 

33 

 

10 10/12/2021  Lauren  Production director/ 

floor supervisor/ 

machinist  

Factory E: Formal 

FPM 

Selby 

11 10/12/2021  Lydia Machinist  Factory E: Formal 

FPM 

Selby 

12 18/03/2022 Samson Machinist Factory D: Formal 

FPM 

Troyeville 

13 18/03/2022 Dan Machinist Factory D: Formal 

FPM 

Troyeville 

Table 1 

3.4 Limitations  

 

The study was constrained by several factors; these include gaining access, time constraints, 

language barriers and sample size. The study was constrained by a limited timeframe and 

because gaining access to garment factories and participants took a lengthy amount of time to 

locate companies with factories in Johannesburg that were willing to allow research to be 

conducted. Thus, the sample size remained relatively small. During fieldwork itself time 

constraints had also been a limitation as most garment factories required the interview process 

to be done as quickly as possible or no longer than 15 minutes overall to not take away from 

production time at the factory, with two of the visited factories stating that research could only 

be conducted during the lunchtime of the garment workers. This limited the amount of time 

spent interviewing participants and eliciting more in-depth questions. In addition to this, 

language barriers presented one of the biggest stumbling blocks, during the interview process 

most participants would not understand the initial phrasing of the questions which required the 

question to be rephrased to simpler terms which, to a degree, impacted the initial meaning of 

the question. On the other hand, the language barrier resulted in some participants answering 

questions very briefly, even in the case where they were asked to elaborate which did not allow 

me to get a descriptive account of their lives. One of the interviews conducted was informally 

translated by a admin staff between myself and a Sesotho speaking garment worker, which 

meant that a lot may have been lost in translation; thus, providing room for misunderstandings 

and my own potential misrepresentations of particular narratives, and again due to time 



 

 

 

34 

 

constraints, I was not able to go back to each woman and fill in gaps in narratives but I was 

able to call factories and speak to managers. 

 

3.5 Ethical Considerations   

 

The ethical considerations in this study included the guarantee of confidentiality of the 

participants, issues of informed consent and Covid-19 regulations. Confidentiality was ensured 

by the use of pseudonyms and identifying information was removed in the research report, 

moreover, the audio recordings were stored on a password protected device, were only 

accessible to the researcher for transcription and were destroyed at the completion of the 

research. The participants were required to give their informed consent both verbally and 

through signing formal consent forms to participate in the study and their informed consent 

was required to have the interview audio recorded. Participants were informed that they could 

withdraw their participation at any point during the interview if they wished to do so. This 

study was low-risk and ethical permission was obtained via The School of Social Science’s 

ethics committee. The study was in line with the COVID-19 national regulations, guidelines, 

and protocols in the collection of data as masks were worn and social distancing was always 

maintained of least one and a half metres from each other, all interviews were either conducted 

in well-ventilated areas or outside.  

 

3.4 Analysis 

The method of analysis used in this study was a thematic analysis. The audio recordings of the 

in-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews with garment workers and factory supervisors 

were transcribed and then coded thematically to reveal recurring themes and patterns. A 

thematic analysis was used to understand the data through identifying themes in order to 

understand the experiences of a specific group of people (Kawulich & Holland, 2012), in this 

case the experiences of female garment factory workers in the factory and in the home. The 

thematic analysis involved familiarisation of the data through transcribing, analysing, and 



 

 

 

35 

 

reading the text, coding all data, and then identifying and reviewing seven core categories this 

process involved grouping interrelated codes under much broader themes:   

 

 Codes Categories 

● Gender composition in the factory  

● Personality traits in the workplace 

●  “Women work” 

● The role of men in the participants 

lives 

Gender roles 

● Tired 

● Stress 

● Time spent on social reproduction. 

● sleeping hours 

 well-being 

● Working hours 

● Wages 

● Working environment conditions 

● Workplace conduct 

● Job security 

● Travel time 

Working Conditions 

● No partner/husband 

● Lives alone with children 

 

Single headed household 

 

● Supporting extended family 

members 

 

Multiple dependants 

 

● Migration and remittance practices  

● Stress 

● Roles in labour 

Experiences and understandings 



 

 

 

36 

 

● Roles as providers  

● Cooking 

● Cleaning 

● Childcare  

● Care for others  

● Dependant on social 

reproductive labour from 

others 

Social Reproduction/ Unpaid Labour  

 

 

Each of these themes were examined to gain understanding, insight and perceptions of 

participant’s everyday lived experience, their roles in paid and unpaid labour and the gendered 

challenges they face. The identified themes are in line with concepts discussed under the 

literature review in chapter 3, mainly the working conditions at the garment factory and in the 

home, the gendered roles in at work and in the home, the interplay between paid labour and 

unpaid labour and the perceptions, understanding and experiences of women and their role in 

labour. Moreover, the core identified themes are in line with the set-out research questions. The 

identified themes were grouped under a set of analytical categories. 

In the chapters to follow I discuss the three main themes that emerged from the analysis. These 

themes are Working conditions and gendered labour of garment factories in  Johannesburg, 

the analysis maps out the structure of each of the visited factories, determines the working 

conditions based on the experiences of women employed in these factories and lastly 

determines the gendered labour in contemporary garment factories located in Johannesburg, 

based on the data collected on the working conditions, the gender composition in the workplace 

and the perceived gendered characteristics. The fifth chapter: Experiences of women employed 

in the garment industry with multiple forms of labour, focuses on the lived experience of 

women garment workers in the interplay between paid and unpaid labour. Lastly, chapter six; 

How women employed in garment factories in Johannesburg make meaning and understand 

their roles, explores how the women make meaning, understand, and perceive their roles and 



 

 

 

37 

 

identities as garment factory workers, migrant labourers, and their roles and identities in their 

social reproductive spheres such as providers, caregivers, mothers, etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

38 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 . Working conditions and gendered 

labour of garment factories in 

Johannesburg 

  



 

 

 

39 

 

 

4.1  Contemporary garment factories located in Johannesburg. 

 

The garment factories where the participants in this study were employed were characterised 

by different manufacturing purposes and working conditions. Most of the garment workers in 

this study were employed at garment factories that were linked to the formal sector of the 

garment manufacturing industry except for three participants which were employed at smaller 

informal factories. The formal factories were characterised predominantly by full-package 

manufacturers (FPMs). The formal FPMs handled the whole manufacturing process of clothing 

by designing, sourcing, or manufacturing materials, and producing the entire garment from 

start to finish. The two informal factories in this study were smaller, linked to the informal 

sector, which were unregulated and characterised by a combination of FPMs and cut, make and 

trim factories (CMTs). The smaller informal factories handled the whole manufacturing 

process and took orders that only involved the assembling of garments based on given designs 

and materials. The participants in this study were employed at factories that manufactured 

everyday garments such as t-shirts, pants, dresses, uniforms, etc.., except for one of the formal 

factories that specifically manufactured culinary wear, medical scrubs, and gym wear.   

The formal FPMs were larger factories located in and around the city of Johannesburg. Factory 

E was situated in a large stand-alone building that was attached to another smaller building that 

housed the reception area and office. The other two formal factories, factories B and D, were 

housed on a single floor in low-rise buildings that took up the entire floor of the building. They 

both had a separate large factory space and office space. On the other hand, the two smaller 

informal factories (factories A and C) were located on the outskirts of the Johannesburg CBD 

and in New Doornfontein. These smaller factories were both housed within small rooms in 

high-rise buildings. There were no demarcated signs to indicate the name of the factories and 

there was no separate office nor reception space. The high-rise buildings where these factories 

were located also housed several other small informal garment factories. 



 

 

 

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Figure 2 Garment Factory (D): Factory Floor 

 

All the garment workers in this study were employed at factories that were primarily linked to 

domestic value chains with a few productions linked to neighbouring African countries such 

as Botswana and Namibia but none were linked to international brand names nor specifically, 

export oriented: “We mostly supply local but we have dealt with orders from Botswana and 

Namibia” (Interview 1), “We do supply locally but there are times where orders have come in 

from other African countries” (Interview 8). Similarly, in their study on garment workers in 

the inner city of Johannesburg, Joynt & Webster (2016) have noted that the former 

Johannesburg fashion district and garment industry in the Johannesburg city was decentralised. 

There were fewer FMPs and hundreds of smaller informal CMTs that operated from high-rise 

buildings. In addition, Joynt & Webster (2016) also found that garment factories in 

Johannesburg, specifically the informal CMTs, predominantly supplied to local retailers. 

However, unlike in the work of Joynt & Webster (2016), I found that the majority of garment 

factory workers were South African nationals yet two of the garment workers were migrants 



 

 

 

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employed at informal CMTs. Joynt & Webster (2016) have noted that migrants were more 

likely to be employed at this type of garment factory.  

The nature of the work processes involved in manufacturing garments for the participants, like 

most workplaces, were characterised by workplace hierarchies. The workplace hierarchies in 

garment factories usually consisted of (from top to bottom) factory managers, production 

directors, floor supervisors, machinists, receivers, checkers, packers, and cleaners. The factory 

manager oversaw the entire running of the garment factory. The production director planned 

and oversaw that production targets were met as aforementioned. The factory floor supervisors 

supervised all activities that occurred on the factory floor which included the machinists, 

checkers, and packers. The receivers received the deliveries of textiles that were cut according 

to a pattern that the machinists needed to sew and assemble to manufacture various items of 

clothing using high speed electrical sewing machines. The checkers inspected the completed 

garments to ensure that they were up to standard. The checkers removed loose threads and 

finished off the loose ends on the garments which were manually sewn by hand. The garments 

were then ironed in some cases using industrial irons and steamers. Lastly, the packers 

packaged the garments and prepared them to be sent to the client by typically neatly packaging 

the garments in plastic bags and packing them in boxes. Besides the factory managers the 

garment workers in this study consisted of a production director, machinists, checkers, 

receivers, and packers.  

Working Conditions 

Based on the accounts from the interviews with garment workers employed at various garment 

factories, the working conditions in the garment factories were investigated in terms of working 

hours, physical and environmental conditions, job security, unionisation, safety, and wages. 

In terms of the working hours, all the garment workers reported that they were required to work 

a total of eight hours a day. This included one hour for lunch. Most of the workers worked a 

total of six hours from the morning till lunchtime, they worked from 7:30am -1:30pm, took an 

hour lunch and then worked two hours in the afternoon, from 2:30pm- 4:30pm. The working 

hours were strictly controlled in the factories. At Factory D, I observed that the garment 

workers were only allowed to stop working and take their lunch when a loud bell rang in the 

factory at 1:00pm. When this occurred all the machinists and other garment workers stopped 

what they were working on and went on their lunchtime break. Samson, an employee at factory 

D, stated: “ya... this bell is for lunch time and then for home time” (Interview 11).   



 

 

 

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However, regardless of the eight-hour working day, some of the participants from both the 

formal and informal factories reported working more than eight hours a day. Three women in 

the study reported that it was a common occurrence to work more than eight hours a day, by 

either coming in earlier or leaving later in order to meet the production targets that were set for 

that day or week. This was done to ensure that all tasks were completed so delivery could take 

place on time. As one participant stated “I start working at 9 and then only leave at 5 or later 

depending on what I’m doing. Sometimes there are a lot of orders, so I have to wait for couriers 

and stuff” (Interview 1). Three of the garment workers in this study were only required to work 

five days a week whereas seven of garment workers were required to work on Saturdays as 

well. According to five of the participants, working on Saturdays was company policy; they 

worked every Saturday. Yet, two of the participants employed at an informal factory (Factory 

C), worked on some Saturdays only when there were production targets to be met. This was 

due to Factory C relying on contracts or tenders, “I don’t work on weekends, but sometimes 

when the work is too much then we come” (Interview 5). All participants that worked on 

Saturdays reported only working for five hours but this varied for the two workers employed 

at the informal factory as production targets varied every week.  

According to most women in the study the production targets were set by production directors. 

The production directors planned, coordinated, and implemented the production requirements 

based on the working hours, efficiency of the staff, number of factory workers and the number 

of pieces of clothing needed to be produced by a certain date. Once the production target for 

the day or week had been set the production director together with the supervisor monitored 

the clothing production processes and ensured that the staff met the set production targets 

through motivating them and through putting pressure on the garment factory workers. The 

garment factory workers were informed by their floor supervisors either on the day or a day 

before that they had to work later than their set times when they had not met their production 

targets for the week or as in the case of other factories the workers would be informed by their 

supervisors at the end of the working week that they had to work on the weekends to meet the 

production target. According to the garment workers employed at formal factories, they were 

often asked to work over official time. According to a production director employed at a formal 

factory “By law it’s supposed to be 8 hours, which is half past 7 to half past 4 and then Friday 

we start half past 7 to 2. But on my side, I’ll be here from after 6 and starting to work till half 

past 4 or 5 everyday” (Interview 9).  



 

 

 

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The worker unionisation, employment benefits, and job security status varied across the 

garment workers, but there were no notable differences between those employed at formal and 

informal factories based on interviews with garment factory workers and managers at the 

garment factories where the interviews took place. Yolandey, a manager at a formal sector 

factory (D), noted that the garment workers at the factory were not unionised, received no 

employee benefits but they were full-time permanent workers that on average earned weekly 

wages which varied according to skill from around R850 – R1300. Similarly, David, a manager 

at a formal Factory (E) stated that the workers were not unionised, received no employee 

benefits but were employed full time (Interview 9). Likewise, Tshepiso, a manager at an 

informal Factory (C), expressed that the garment workers were not unionised and had no job 

security as they were part-time workers hired on 3-month contracts as the factory and 

production was on a smaller scale that relied on the contract work which was not always 

available (Interview 3). The workers at Tshepiso’s factory earned on average R4000 a month 

and received no benefits besides a bonus in December, which only applied to employees if they 

were still employed at the factory during that time (Interview 3). Similarly, Stella, a worker at 

another informal factory (A) stated that some of the workers were part-time employees, were 

not unionised, and earned on average R5000 per month with no benefits at all (Interview 1). 

The global garment industry is typically associated with little to no employee benefits and 

suppressing worker unionisation. In Sri-Lankan EPZ and Mexican Maquiladoras, garment 

workers are denied access to worker unions as the absence of trade unions attracts more foreign 

investment (Milberg & Amengual, 2008; Shaw, 2007).  

In terms of safety at the workplace, all garment workers in the study expressed that they had 

never been injured on the job “No, I have never been hurt while working here” (Interview 8).  

Except for one respondent, Sarah, a machinist. Sarah said that she had previously been injured 

on the job when a needle had pierced through her hand while she was making a tunic using the 

industrial sewing machine (Interview 5). She explained that her needle injury was an extremely 

painful experience that led her to a lot of blood loss (Interview 5). She stated that when the 

injury occurred on the factory floor her other co-workers attempted to help her get the needle 

out of her hand and stop the bleeding, but she had to eventually leave work immediately and 

go to the clinic. Sarah stated that she went to the clinic with her supervisor. Once she was at 

the clinic, she got stitches which the company paid for, and she was given time off from work 

so her injury could heal (Interview 5). During the interview Sarah had shown me the scar that 

was left from her injury.  



 

 

 

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Some participants in this study made use of personal protective clothing and equipment such 

as aprons, overcoats, masks, gloves, and thimbles for hand sewing. However, the garment 

workers that did not have any personal protective clothing and equipment were at risk for dust, 

dye and other hazardous chemicals contacting their skin during cutting, sewing, and handling 

of textile waste. This predisposes garment workers to health risks and has been associated with 

an increased prevalence of eczema (Zungu & Gabe, 2011).  Additionally, the lack of protective 

gloves and finger thimbles exposes workers to pricks and cuts as in the case of Sarah’s injury. 

Given that sewing and the use of needles and pins was a major activity the lack of thimbles and 

gloves to protect the hand and fingers also exposes garment workers to the risk of bloodborne 

infections such as HIV and Hepatitis B due to the needles drawing blood and the sharing of 

needles between workers (Ind & Jefferies, 1999; Zungu & Gabe, 2011). 

In terms of the general workplace conditions and physical and environmental conditions I 

observed that natural ventilation was inadequate; the factory environment was cramped and 

stuffy. This was due to only a few small sized windows and one door entryway that was kept 

closed in both the small scale one room garment factories (A and C). These factors prevented 

airflow in these small, congested spaces. Additionally, there were no fans nor air conditioning 

to create a circulation of air and to mitigate heat. These conditions at these informal CMTs 

appeared to be much like the many other informal garment factories that I observed in both 

high-rise buildings.  

 

Figure 3 High-rise building: Garment Factory (A) (Source: Google Maps 2022). 



 

 

 

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Ventilation has been a key healthy and safety concern in the garment industry worldwide. 

Inadequate Ventilation at garment factories was found to be an occupational health hazard in 

Asia (Padmini & Venmathi, 2012; Gupta et al, 2015), Latin America (Pérez Floriano & 

Pacheco, 2018) and Africa (Zungu & Gabe, 2011; Asare et al, 2019). The quality and safety of 

the working environment impacts both the productivity and health of the workers (Hossain et 

al, 2014). Poor working environments such as the inadequately ventilated and cramped 

factories in this study have proven to have had harmful effects on garment workers resulting in 

illness and life-threatening incidences. According to Hossain et al (2014) the lack of air flow 

and humidity due to the worker’s body temperature and the constant use of equipment such as 

sewing machines and ironing machines etc., traps heat. The trapped heat and the lack of air 

changes result in incidences of illness as headaches, respiratory problems, vomiting, fatigue, 

and fainting (Hossain et al, 2014). Additionally, the lack of adequate ventilation, cramped and 

overcrowded working environments that characterise garment factories is related to the 

occurrence of Tuberculosis among the workers worldwide. A study on the factors related with 

Tuberculosis amongst textile workers in Maseru, Lesotho indicated that there were incidences 

of TB in small-scale textile industries due to the workers coming into contact with dust and 

damp air due to the lack of adequate ventilation and overcrowding in the factories (Senekal-

Ndebele, 2020). According to Senekal-Ndebele (2020), the high rates of the airborne disease, 

TB in the textile industries of Lesotho was found to be caused by the lack of adequate 

ventilation and overcrowding. The prevalence of TB amongst garment workers in developing 

countries was also found by others, see also (Al-Khal et al, 2005).   

Additionally, the lack of ventilation and the cramped and overcrowded working environment 

posed an added risk during the current Covid-19 pandemic. The participants that were 

employed at factories characterised by working environments that were poorly ventilated and 

cramped were at risk for contracting Covid-19 as in the case of Tuberculosis, Covid-19 is also 

an airborne disease. Moreover, the majority of the staff at both these factories were not wearing 

the mandatory face masks nor complying with social distancing measures to mitigate the spread 

of the virus. The three garment workers from these smaller informal factories expressed that 

though they were concerned about the dangers of their working environment in terms of the 

high possibility of contracting Covid-19, they were ultimately accustomed to their situation, 

“ya… you know I was scared before but now we are used to it” (Interview 5), “There’s nothing 

we can do, the space here is small and we have to work” (Interview 6). However, a majority of 



 

 

 

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the participants were not concerned about contracting Covid-19 “No... I’m feeling safe here… 

No Covid…it's fine” (Interview 12). 

Besides health risks, poor ventilation also possesses safety concerns in the garment industry. 

According to Hasan et al, (2017), in garment factories where fires incidents had occurred, heat 

and smoke were trapped inside these factories due to inadequate ventilation resulting in major 

deadly incidents in the garment industry.  A fire occurred at a Bangladeshi garment factory 

(Tazreen Fashions) – which killed at least 1,134 people and injured more than 2,500 (Ashwin 

et al., 2020).  

In terms of workplace treatment, some of the garment workers reported that they received fair 

treatment from their superiors, however, in some cases, fair treatment was not consistent. All 

the garment workers in the study initially expressed that they were treated well by their 

supervisors/managers, however, some garment workers noted that when there was a lot of work 

to be done or when production targets needed to be met, the supervisors would push them to 

meet the targets by increasing their workloads, pressuring them to work at a faster pace and 

them yelling at them. I observed garment workers being yelled at by a factory supervisor during 

my visit to a large formal factory to conduct interviews. In this instance the floor supervisor of 

the factory was observed loudly shouting at employees which was a norm according to Rose 

and Patience, two participants from this factory: “Ya… but you know when we are busy and 

need to meet production the supervisors push us and shout at us to meet the production target 

so ya.” (Interview 7, Personal communication). Lauren also shed some light on the treatment 

of staff by supervisors in garment factories: 

The supervisors push us very hard to get the job done. Even me myself, I push the other 

workers and assist them to get it done so we can deliver on time. But also, as a supervisor 

myself I also make time to be friendly and crack jokes with the staff to lighten the mood but 

when it’s time for production it’s time for production, but some supervisors put too much 

pressure, gossip about the staff which makes it difficult to ask for production (Interview 9). 

Lauren, an experienced production director explained to me that in her role as a production 

director, she struck a balance between being strict with the garment factory workers when it 

came to meeting production targets and being friendly at other times to lighten the mood with 

the workers and to create a balanced relationship with them. Moreover, Lauren stated that in 



 

 

 

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her experience some supervisors would be too strict, constantly putting pressure on the workers 

and gossiping about the workers which in turn led the workers to resent the supervisors. Thus, 

when the supervisors would ask the workers for the production, they would be met with 

workers who purposely worked slower or made it difficult to get work done.  

Yelling at staff is a form of workplace misconduct. Moreover, according to Harlos et al (2000), 

the mistreatment of staff in the workplace that occurs between employees and authority figures 

such as yelling is a form of interactional injustice. Forms of interactional injustices are used to 

intimidate, instil fear, and induce control of employees which invoke negative emotional 

responses in employees (Harlos et al, 2000). Additionally, pressuring staff to meet production 

targets could be seen a form of workplace misconduct and a health and safety risk as injuries 

such as needle punctures on fingers are more likely to occur due to production pressure as “they 

attributed the prevalence of accidents to the pace of production, long hours of work and 

pressures to meet quotas” (Hale & Wills, 2011, p.1939).   

 

4.2   Gendered Labour of contemporary garment factories located in Johannesburg. 

 

The gender composition of garment workers varied across different factories. According to the 

interviews with the managers of the factories and the garment workers in this study it was 

established that there were more men than women employed as garment factory workers. 

Garment factory workers include machinists, packers, checkers, receivers, and cleaners. 

Gender Composition of garment workers and Gender Discourses on Labour  

 Out of the five garment factories only two of the factories were characterised by a gender 

composition that consisted of more women employed as garment workers than men. Whereas 

the other three factories had a majority of men that were employed as garment workers. 

Majority of the literature on global garment work indicates that garment factory work has been 

associated as ‘women’s work’ due to the gendered discourses of labour that infer gender-biased 

beliefs of labour for men and women (Hossain et al, 2013). These gender-biased beliefs include 

assumptions that men and women possess gendered characteristics suited for different types of 

labour. The gendered characteristics for women, perceived women to possess smaller hands, 

nimble fingers and to be more patient, docile, and sincere, making women ideal garment 



 

 

 

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workers as these characteristics are supposedly better suited for the intricate task of sewing 

(Elson & Pearson, 1981). Additionally, the literature of garment work in the global south 

indicates that a great share of the labour force is predominantly constituted by women; the 

ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh (Hossain et al, 2013), export-processing zones in 

Sri-Lanka (Hancock et al, 2015), maquiladoras in Mexico (Domínguez et al, 2010), the 

garment industry in Lesotho (Dyer, 2001), etc. Thus, the findings of more men employed at 

garment factories in Johannesburg differs from the norm. 

When asked why this was the case, Stella, an informal factory worker expressed that while 

women still worked as garment factory workers, it was men that predominantly made up the 

available labour supply of machinists thus more men than women were hired for these jobs: 

“The men are just the labour that’s available…they have the skills to sew. while they are 

women it is not like before where only women do the sewing.” (Interview 1). Moreover, she 

stated that this was especially the case for the smaller informal CMT factories in Johannesburg 

as migrant men from African countries such as Zimbabwe and Malawi tended to be employed 

in these factories more than women (Interview 1). In a different account Lauren stated, “Joburg 

side the males also, they do like to sew and work as a machinist” (Interview 9). Additionally, 

the two male participants in this study stated that they did not view garment work through a 

gendered labour perspective as they believed that garment work was both for men and women. 

Samson, who had learnt to sew in Malawi, stated that he believed garment work was not just 

for women: “No this work is not just for women. we men are doing it here” (Interview 12). 

Similarly, Dan shared the same opinion. Dan, a machinist, explained to me that he had learned 

how to sew in Malawi at the young age of 10 as he was interested in his grandfather’s job as a 

home-based machinist. Dan’s grandfather initially started teaching him how to hand stitch with 

a simple needle and thread and then gradually teaching him how to sew with an electrical 

sewing machine. Once Dan had learned the skills to be a machinist, he would assist his 

grandfather in his home-based small business making garments and tailoring clothing. Dan 

stated that though he was employed at a garment factory with only one machinist who was a 

woman, he believed that anyone could be machinists: 

Women, also they can sew, as long as they can concentrate on the work, and what they are 

doing, you can be a machinist. So as long as they are concentrating, anyone can be a 

machinist. Because there are many things that you have to do to be a machinist. You have 



 

 

 

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to listen to what the people say, and if someone shows you a pattern, then you have to do 

like that. So, if you can do that, you can be a machinist (Interview 12). 

According to the findings of Joynt & Webster (2016), garment workers employed at CMTs 

were found to have predominantly been men migrant workers from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Ghana, 

Botswana, and Mozambique. These garment workers are often more skilled than the local 

labour as they carry advanced skills and experience in sewing and embroidery that they 

acquired from their country of origin (Joynt & Webster, 2016), as in the case of both Dan and 

Samson.  

On the contrary, only two participants in this study held gender-biased beliefs on labour. These 

participants expressed that they believed that women were better suited as garment workers as 

women were inherently good at sewing. Sarah, a small informal factory machinist employed 

at a factory dominated by women garment workers explained to me that she had initially learnt 

to hand sew from her mother as a young girl. However, she had only learnt to sew on an 

industrial sewing machine later in her life. According to Sarah, she learnt the skills to be a 

machinist through learning from an older Chinese woman whom she worked for at her very 

first garment related job and she also learned through some self-teaching. Sarah stated that in 

her perspective and experience in the garment industry she felt that women were better at 

sewing and the making of garments than men were. She held the opinion that women could 

sew better and work quicker: “you can see that I have seen that only ladies are special for that 

sewing, women are just working better and quickly” (Interview 4). Moreover, she stated that 

when it came to work ethic in the factory, men had a good work ethic and knew how to get the 

job done yet they did not know how to work neatly nor sew well “but males you can see that 

there’s someone who knows how to work so nice but not clean or sew” (Interview 4). Similarly, 

this view was shared by Lydia who was also employed at a garment factory dominated by 

women garment workers: “The ladies here are sewing better than the men, but the men work 

nice.” (Interview 10). When asked what she meant by this Lydia could not explain further. 

Gender and Workplace Relations 

In terms of the factory ownership, four out of the five factories where the participants were 

employed were owned by men, except for one of the informal factories that was fully women 

owned. All the factory owners were found to be South African nationals of various races, 

consisting of one White owner, two Black owners and two Indian owners. The supervisors at 



 

 

 

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the factories were a mix of both males and females with no particular gender to be found 

commonly occurring in that role.  

In relation to gender and workplace treatment, the garment workers in this study reported that 

the men and women garment workers were treated equally by the supervisors regardless of the 

gender of their supervisors, with the exception of  Stella who specifically mentioned that she 

and her colleagues were treated well because of the gender of the owners: “You see one thing 

about the company is that it is women-owned so my bosses treat me very well, like my own 

sisters and they do treat us all the same.” (Interview 1). 

The factory owners and supervisors in this study expressed that gender was not a factor they 

considered during the hiring process of garment workers. Rather, it was whether the candidate 

met the skill and experience requirements for a machinist or garment factory worker. Yolandey, 

noted that the machinists would often have to demonstrate that they could operate a sewing 

machine during the hiring process but the general garment workers such as the checkers, 

packers and receivers were hired based on their CV as their roles were lower-skilled and they 

usually received training prior to them starting to work. Tyler, a formal factory owner, 

mentioned that his factory had 70% of male garment workers and only 30% of female garment 

workers (Interview 2). Moreover, Tyler st