Pepkor Speciality’s value chain treats enterprise development as a sourcing strategy with measurable outcomes. The path is explicit: identify promising local manufacturers, bring technical partners onto the factory floor to build capability and place controlled orders once reliability is proven in the data.

The work rests on industry collaboration, with retailers, technical partners and local makers aligning on standards, timelines and shared goals for growing local capacity. Within this model, the Manufacturing Development Fund (MDF) conducts factory assessments and designs improvements, creating a practical plan tailored to each site. The consultancy firm BMA then works within the factories to turn that plan into daily practice, refining operator methods, balancing lines, setting up visual checks and running brief reviews to keep performance steady. Pepkor sets demand and standards throughout, aligning orders and timelines with factories’ capabilities. Together, these roles link retail requirements to dependable, repeatable production.

South Africa’s clothing, textile, footwear and leather sector is rebuilding competitiveness under the Retail-CTFL Masterplan, which calls for localised production, investment in supplier capability and job growth through demand-led orders. Pepkor’s commitment sits squarely in that frame: build reliable local makers and buy from them at a scale that makes the capability stick. The value is clear: shorter lead times, tighter working capital cycles, stronger supply resilience and assortments that respond faster to demand. It also strengthens compliance and quality at origin, reducing downstream friction in distribution and returns

Case profile: Nkosi Yamakhosi

Who they are
Nkosi Yamakhosi is a second-generation, family-run manufacturer founded out of Durban’s cut, make and trim (CMT) ecosystem and formally established in 2014. Leadership is present on the floor: a parent built the base and two siblings now steer the next chapter, combining hands-on making with digital tools and a structured operating rhythm. Every day, cut-and-sew categories are their strength, with woven boxers selected as the initial retail-ready focus.

What changed
Following an MDF diagnostic that compared two similar lines and showed faster throughput on the leaner line, Nkosi Yamakhosi has rebalanced tasks across stations, documented and trained standard methods, and introduced kitting with simple visual checks to manage work-in-progress. Supervisors run brief daily reviews, pre-production checkpoints align planning and make, and documentation meets distribution centre requirements. Costing is anchored on verified standard minutes.

Where the factory is now
With these routines in place, Nkosi Yamakhosi has moved into a controlled pilot on a single-core product. Pilot orders are limited in scope and are paced by a defined critical path, daily management, standardised operator methods, balanced lines, targeted skills development and governed costing. A direct supplier readiness view guides what gets ordered and when. The objective is disciplined growth supported by evidence, repeatable output at target cost and quality.

People and progress
The operating environment reflects the same discipline. Leadership is on the floor, supervisors coach to the method and operators work to documented standards. Planning, production and quality use shared measures, which reduces hand-off errors and stabilises schedules. Skills are advancing: team members have moved from entry roles into cutting, QA, recon and line leadership and basic data skills are being built through ERP dashboards and daily reviews. Women make up the majority of the workforce, with several now leading lines and preparing to run self-contained units as the business scales. The result is a family-owned factory working to retail standards, with a clear definition of ‘retail-ready’ and line-of-sight to repeat orders.

Commercial channel
Nkosi Yamakhosi supplies woven boxers to Pepkor Speciality’s CODE brand and is developing additional options (T-shirts, utility pants, chinos and selected dresses) in line with sourcing priorities and fabric availability planning. The factory is also formalising a merchandising function to support direct engagement, clearer communication and on-time component flow.

Q&A: Dr Diresh Raiput, Nkosi Yamakhosi

Q: How did Nkosi Yamakhosi come to be, and what do you want it to stand for?
Diresh: I grew up in a clothing family. My dad worked in manufacturing in the 80s and later started a CMT. Nkosi Yamakhosi was formally born in 2014. I trained as a doctor in China, learned the language, and when I came back in 2017, I digitised the factory, production tracking, invoicing and costing so we could move from jobbing to selling finished product. Nkosi stands for quality in South African manufacturing, innovation and community empowerment. When people see our label, I want them to think of hard work, skill and local pride.

Q: What early decision still shapes the business today?
Diresh: We chose focus. We mastered one item, the woven boxer shorts, before expanding. That discipline built our base.

Q: You talk about ‘people power’. What does that look like on the floor?
Diresh: We’ve grown talent from the ground up. Nosipho came from hospitality and now runs recon, invoicing and fabric stores. Kelly started in QA and now runs production. Rihanna moved with us and now manages our Durban plant; she participates in the profit-sharing programme. We train, give responsibility and back it with data.

Q: Why join the MDF/BMA programme, and what did the diagnostic change?
Diresh: We wanted to grow sustainably, in structure as much as in size. The diagnostic compared our Durban plant with our larger site and showed the leaner line running faster. We rebalanced tasks, documented methods, tightened pre-production and set up daily reviews with simple visual checks. It gave us a clear way to run each line to a daily target.

Q: What does a good day look like now?
Diresh: Our dashboard shows cut, in-line and dispatch. If a line slips, we stop, fix the method, fabric shade or machine setup, then move on. The ERP makes issues visible, so troubleshooting is quick and employment stays stable.

Q: Where are you with Pepkor Speciality and product scope?
Diresh: We supply woven boxers to CODE and are developing T-shirts, utility pants, chinos and selected dresses. The plan is to secure fabric bases in advance so lead times hold as volumes grow.

Q: You mentioned numbers on boxer shorts. Can you share the headline?
Diresh: This year, we’ve produced about 2.5 million boxer shorts across the business. For Pepkor, we are growing, doing roughly 50 to 80 thousand so far this year.

Q: Intermediaries have been a constraint. What changes are you making?
Diresh: We’re building a merchandising team to work directly with chains. Direct engagement improves communication, component flow and payment timing and keeps lines moving. It also reduces the delays we used to see through fashion house intermediaries.

Q: Skills and training – how are you building capability?
Diresh: We are training on Excel and data tools; the team uses ERP dashboards daily. We’re onboarding Airtable to track fabric orders from grading, make, QA and dispatch. We’ve applied for SETA support, and we’re bringing new entrants onto a training line using stock fabrics – those garments sell through our factory shop and an upcoming wholesale online channel.

Q: What’s next for Nkosi Yamakhosi?
Diresh: Dedicated plants for boxers and T-shirts, a move into babywear, and a socks line; about 30 machines to start, with offtake through existing retailers and partners. We’re also setting up self-contained units led by line managers who’ve grown with us, with support on sourcing and finance.

Q: In one line, what does ‘retail-ready’ mean to you?
Diresh: Repeatable delivery at the right spec and cost, with a team that can do it again next week.