HOME DECOR AND TEXTILE GOODS WITH ZULU KING’S SEAL OF APPROVAL GO ON LONG-TERM DISPLAY IN HUGE US WHOLESALE MARKET

HOME DECOR AND TEXTILE GOODS WITH ZULU KING’S SEAL OF APPROVAL GO ON LONG-TERM DISPLAY IN HUGE US WHOLESALE MARKET

Bvunzamutupo SADC VOICE Reporter

 Home decor and ceramic products of a job creation project backed by the Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini, are among a range of products on display in a permanent South African showroom of a giant wholesale market in the US city of Atlanta.

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is the driving force behind the move to get local products manufactured by small businesses and cooperatives into the South African permanent showroom of Atlanta’s America smart - after an absence of five years. The reinstatement of the showroom to this market has been widely welcomed - and the quality of the goods that put on display fulsomely praised.

Bayede! Royal Signature Textiles is a partnership of new, small and medium-sized businesses, whose brief has been to develop the first royal and luxury product range for the African continent. And in this respect, it can measure its progress with some satisfaction.

The Zulu monarch has cemented his relationship with Bayede! (an isiZulu term that translates into English as ‘Hail the King!’) By giving it his ‘royal seal of approval’ - and this, undoubtedly, has opened doors for it.

 Among the items it is displaying at the Atlanta market are different types of bed linen, with a range of designs that includes the Zulu royal crest, a tribal shield and a Zulu love letter, as well as a range of ceramics.

But these have not been the only attractions. Residents of Georgia’s biggest city have also shown intriguing examples of the home decor and textile-manufacturing talents of a wide range of South African artisans and entrepreneurs.

 In reopening the showroom, the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth Thabethe, said she was highly impressed by the talent and skills that have gone into designing and crafting an ‘impressive array of fashionable products.

“The showroom is doing ‘wonderfully well’ in promoting South African culture and heritage, while at the same time appealing to both local and international markets,” said Thabethe.

 Over the years, many ‘township entrepreneurs’ have built impressive reputations for their innovation in manufacturing a range of products from freely available (and free) material - and there are some excellent examples of this type of expertise at the Atlanta showroom.

Stand-out products in this respect have been sets of ottomans and coffee tables made out of recycled tyres by Yolanda Msutwana and Sazi Mkunqwana, and their East London-based Company, Ozzys Eco Decor, and award-winning baskets hand-woven out of ukhasi grass and ilala palm leaves by Angeline Masuku.

Amongst the products are also some from Tlanggape Upholstery, which manufactures customized furniture, in addition to restoring upholstery (as well as customizing woodwork, fabric and leather). It based in Polokwane, in Limpopo.