South African-based Turkish-owned textile group, Sesli Textiles, has successfully completed transfer of its manufacturing operations to a new, 30 000 m2 factory in Robertville, Johannesburg, to accommodate increased local and export demand.

The company supplies markets via wholesalers and chain stores throughout Southern Africa. The new factory and its hi-tech equipment represents a multi-million-rand direct investment in South Africa.

Local yarn manufacture is planned for next year and further investment is planned which could double or even treble output.

“We are heavily committed to South Africa for the long term and the increased capacity of the multi-million-rand Robertville factory, previously a Makro distribution centre, is ideal for our needs,” says CEO Mustafa Sesli, who has settled in Johannesburg with his family.

“Our established South African markets, where the company's brands (Lily, Moon, Beverly and Cape) have a significant share, are being broadened and new ones sought, notably among Government Departments such as Health, Defense and Social Welfare,” he adds.

New export markets, including North Africa, Europe and America, are now being explored.

Moreover the company has embarked on an extensive social responsibility programme including donations to the likes of Operation Snowball in Gauteng and it has become a member of “The Proudly South African” initiative, further underlining its commitment to South Africa.

Significantly its success story is based solidly on the input of South Africans. The company now employs about 200 people, 95% of whom are locals who have been trained from scratch up to supervisory level in compliance with all relevant labour legislation with the emphasis on multi-skilling. German technicians recently furthered the training programme. The target now is to employ 500 people at peak production season.

“South Africans have adapted well to working with sophisticated machinery and we are proud of their achievements,” says Sesli, who, together with his brother Muzaffer, are members of a Turkish dynasty of textile manufacturers with markets throughout the Middle East and Europe.

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