The much-anticipated season of Spring is upon us, and this time of the year symbolises renewal and ushers in a sense of re-awakening. At Proudly SA, we are also energised by the energy that is in the air, and we feel galvanised by the general sense of optimism and positivity that South Africans embody despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges they face. Our ability to remain resilient and tenacious in the face of challenges is what sets us apart and gives us the resolve to soldier on and to embody everything that makes us South Africans.

Fittingly, the beginning of Spring also coincides with our celebration of Heritage Month. Heritage Month provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the multiplicity of our nation, reaffirm our unity in diversity, and commemorate what it means to be a South African – whether it's socialising with friends and family over the staple braai, or feasting on the scrumptious amagwinya, bunny chow, or koeksisters, or to simply gyrating to the electrifying beats of amapiano. Whatever rocks your boat, as long as it rekindles and reaffirms your love for this beautiful country that we call home.

As we usher in the month of Spring, I wish to take this time to briefly reflect on the activities that Proudly South African undertook in August to drive the localisation agenda. As I do so, I am reminded of the words of renowned American investor Warren Buffett, who famously said: “In the business world, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windscreen”, which can be interpreted to mean that it’s easier to understand past events in hindsight than to accurately predict the future.

During Women’s Month, Proudly South African embarked on a series of activations to drive the localisation agenda and to sustain the message of the importance of supporting local industries. Following the launch of our e-commerce platform in partnership with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, we followed up on our pledge to help our members scale up by hosting the official launch of the Market Access Platform (MAP) at the JSE in Johannesburg. MAP is a platform that serves as a single point of entry, providing procurement practitioners who wish to procure goods and services from vetted South African suppliers with a database of South African companies that can be potentially included in their supply chains.

Local businesses attended the event, along with senior government officials, procurement officials, and executives from the private sector. The choice of venue - the JSE – was fitting as it is indicative of our commitment to scale up small and medium-sized businesses to future conglomerates.

Our e-commerce platform reflects our commitment to open up market access for our members and to leverage the power of technology and connectivity to scale up their businesses. We believe that MAP will go a long way towards levelling the playing field in the procurement space and will address the pain points expressed by procurement officials, who struggle to find suitable South African companies that can help them meet their strategic objectives and procurement targets.

There has been a significant amount of anecdotal evidence suggesting the negative impact of offshore e-commerce retailers, such as Shein and Temu, on the retail, clothing, textile, footwear, and leather (R-CTFL) sector in South Africa, which employs over 230,000 people. The Localisation Support Fund released a detailed and seminal study that was commissioned by Proudly South African, which vindicated these claims. The study found that offshore e-commerce platforms have cost the country R960 million in lost local manufacturing sales and that between 2020 and 2024, these retailers also caused the country to lose an estimated 2,818 associated manufacturing jobs and 5,282 retail jobs that may have materialised. At current growth levels, the report said Shein and Temu could cost the country over 34,000 jobs and R6.2 billion in manufacturing sales by 2030.

Considering this apocalyptic scenario, South Africa cannot afford the luxury of further job losses. This doomsday scenario points to the need to expedite the localisation agenda and galvanise all available resources to bolster local industries and entrepreneurs.

Following the resoundingly successful hosting of the fifth edition of the Local Fashion Police aboard the iconic Blue Train, Proudly South Africa kicked off a series of masterclasses that seek to impart technical skills to emerging fashion designers. At Proudly South African, we are cognisant that the success of the local fashion industry goes beyond just sketching eye-catching designs and crafting beautiful patterns. It also entails having the technical skills required to run and maintain a successful business. It is for this reason that we will be hosting a series of masterclasses where the doyens of the local fashion industry will be imparting much-needed technical skills to aspiring and emerging fashion designers and giving them insights on how to tackle real, everyday challenges in the industry.

We wish to remind those fashionistas who crave to win the grand prize of R50,000 worth of apparel from their favourite local designer to keep those entries coming before the cut-off date of 30 September. All they need to do to participate in this competition is to post pictures of themselves dressed to the nines in their favourite local designer and use the following hashtags: #LocalFashionPolice2025 #fashionablebanking and #LovedHereMadeHere and tag Proudly SA and African Bank to qualify. Good luck with those entries.

We wrapped up Women’s Month by partnering with one of our key members, Southern Sun, to host women leaders at one of their fine facilities in Sandton. During this event, which was hosted under the theme: Celebrating the brilliance and resilience of women who lead, renowned academic and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, shared valuable and practical lessons she learnt during her tenure at this institution. Her rousing speech galvanised the delegates and reminded everyone of the inherent power within each one of us.
Looking ahead, we are excited to kick off the season of Spring with exciting activations we have lined up for Heritage Month.

I am pleased to inform you that Proudly South African will turn up the heat at the much-anticipated DStv Delicious International Food & Music Festival that will be taking place on 20 and 21 September. The revellers will be blown away with exciting local experiences at the Proudly South African Local Playground, where eight of our lifestyle members will be exhibiting their wares. Festivalgoers can test their SA smarts in the fast-paced Shesha 3.2.1 board game and show off their knowledge in the “Know Your Local Brand” quiz featuring our exhibiting members. Prizes include Khoi Tech smartwatches, Shesha 3.2.1 board games, and proudly local goodies, all #LovedHereMadeHere. This calendar event gives us a perfect opportunity to showcase our support for the fashion and food industry and to drive the localisation agenda.
We are looking forward to the two-day extravaganza of flavour, music, culture, and connection.

In a bid to influence and shape policy formulation that is biased towards the localisation agenda, Proudly South African collaborates with industry bodies and makes contributions on sectoral plans that outline growth blueprints for various sectors of the economy. It is for this reason that we will be participating in the annual Master Builders South Africa (MBSA) congress, which is taking place on 11-12 September in Cape Town. The conference, which is hosted under the theme: Building South Africa Together, will, among other issues, address economic transformation in the local construction sector and the impact of ratings downgrades on the development and future of the industry. I will be joining other speakers from various sectors who will be exploring matters currently impacting the industry.

Localisation of the economy is no longer an option, but an existential crisis, as demonstrated by the grim findings of the Localisation Support Fund. South Africa continues to grapple with the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. These deepening challenges necessitate the amplification of the localisation message and call upon each and every one of us to contribute in whatever way we can, to support local industries to enable them to create jobs, to alleviate poverty and to bridge widening inequalities.

I am looking forward to the engagements and the activations we will be having this month and hope that this new season will bolster our collective resolve to grow the economy and create jobs, facilitate reconnections, and re-cultivate our loyalty and patriotism through shared experiences.

Join the conversation and show your support for local fashion! Follow Proudly South African on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tik Tok and YouTube using the hashtags #LocalFashionPolice2025 #fashionablebanking and #LovedHereMadeHere.

For information on South African products to look forward to, please contact our team at [email protected]. We will gladly share insights from our trusted member stakeholders.
Remember to check out Proudly SA’s latest CI document to see the various ways in which you as a member of Proudly SA can use our logo on all your qualifying products, websites, and other marketing material.

Should you have any questions or suggestions, or would like to collaborate on future initiatives, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Should you wish to share with the newsletter team any milestones, events, awards, or sales, please send your email to [email protected]. We value your feedback and involvement in shaping the course of our movement.