DTI funding to include footwear
As was discussed at the presentation by the DTI on Friday 16th October at the Hilton Hotel, we would like to inform footwear manufacturers that the Clothing & Textile Competitiveness Improvement Programme (CTCIP) will include footwear manufacturers.
During this presentation it was also discussed that the clustering application is the preferred method for applications. The KZN CTC recently expanded its membership to include footwear manufacturers, and at present has two footwear related firms as members.
What is the CTCIP?
The CTCIP is a grant mechanism aimed at funding non-capital based interventions aimed at upgrading the firm’s competitive capabilities. Funding is available to individual firms and to Clusters; however Clusters will receive higher grant percentages than individual firms (75% compared to 65%) of the total cost of projects, can attract discounted rates on projects due to scale economies, and supports third-party consultancy.
In addition, the KZN Clothing and Textile Cluster (KZN CTC) has over the past 5 years established the administrative capacity and structures required by the IDC to facilitate such a project.
The guidelines for application requires that participating firms are
1. able to provide a tax clearance certificate
2. are able to produce a certificate of bargaining council compliance
3. can base the submission on thorough market analysis and benchmarking assessments, and identify how the projects will be empirically assessed
Projects may run for up to 5-years and we therefore expect them to have a strongly positive impact on manufacturing capabilities.
With reference to point 3) – Benchmarking assessments, the KZN CTC has an established benchmarking methodology and database and is thus able to overcome this barrier to entry rapidly and at minimal cost.
Further, the KZN CTC has established expertise and skills, as well as the required training materials in order to engage with the needs of the firms in the Cluster, and therefore able to deliver high value support at very low cost.
To download the CTCIP guidelines, go to the DTI CTCIP Programme link on this page.

