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Discount Chinese online platform Temu’s meteoric rise in SA since its launch in January has local retailers and union representatives worried.
At the centre of their concerns is that Temu will be even more successful than Chinese online giant Shein in allegedly exploiting import tax loopholes to undercut South African companies. This poses a risk of permanent harm to the fashion retail sector, those in the industry say.
“We are very concerned because they seem to be using the same model as Shein and there is talk of them even trying to ‘out Shein’, Shein, if that is possible,” says Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union national industrial policy officer Etienne Vlok.
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