More than 760 jobs will be lost in Buffalo City as a once major textile employer, Da Gama Textiles, retrenches more than half its workforce.

There are fears the deep job cuts may sound the death knell of one of the region’s oldest and biggest businesses, and calls have been made for government intervention.

The company, which produces the unique Shweshwe print, released a statement yesterday saying that high operational costs and cheap foreign imports had left them with no choice but to retrench 761 of its 1164 staff complement at its Zwelitsha factory.

MORE than 760 jobs will be lost in Buffalo City as a once major textile employer, Da Gama Textiles, retrenches more than half its workforce.

There are fears the deep job cuts may sound the death knell of one of the region’s oldest and biggest businesses, and calls have been made for government intervention.

The company, which produces the unique Shweshwe print, released a statement yesterday saying that high operational costs and cheap foreign imports had left them with no choice but to retrench 761 of its 1164 staff complement at its Zwelitsha factory.

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