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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | The jewellery industry in South Africa: growth, decline and regeneration initiatives |
| Author: | Da Silva, Maria |
| Year: | 1999 |
| Periodical: | Urban Forum |
| Volume: | 10 |
| Issue: | 2 |
| Pages: | 217-234 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | South Africa |
| Subjects: | industrial development adornment |
| External link: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03036619 |
| Abstract: | Since the 1970s, the development potential of the jewellery industry in South Africa has been the focus of more than one official investigation in an effort to understand and improve the industry's economic performance. To offset diminished earnings from the mines, attention has turned to the value added sector of the gold industry as a means of maximizing the value of the raw material. Of the activities along the value chain that most contribute to gold turnover, jewellery production far outstrips any other sector. This paper sketches the history and potential of the jewellery industry in South Africa, the sector's current economic standing, deals with the contemporary problems that still beset jewellery production, and focuses on attempts at unifying the industry, through Jewel City, an urban complex in the Johannesburg Central Business District, and through government initiatives based on the cluster concept of industrial competitiveness. South Africa's unfavourable exchange rate and lack of incentives facilitating the price and supply of gold to jewellers is prejudicial to manufacturing jewellers hoping to compete in the international arena. The industry has the capacity to work collaboratively for employment creation and participation in the global economy through the cluster model of industrial development, based on network linkages spanning the upstream and downstream sections of the industry. The onus is now on the industry to respond to the support initiatives currently being offered by the government. Bibliogr. |