What would you do without Shein and Temu?

Ask members of the Jewish community to give up Shein and Temu, and you’re likely to get a strong reaction. Yet that is effectively what The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) is proposing as it pushes for action against the Chinese e-commerce giants in the name of protecting local jobs and industry. 

Whether it’s your bobba buying anything and everything under the sun, your mother filling her cart with things she didn’t know she needed, or you scrolling through Shein in search of an outfit for your next simcha, the online shopping marketplaces have become firm favourites across generations. 

Cosatu has resolved to campaign for the government to ban Shein and Temu from operating in South Africa, backing a proposal by its affiliate, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union. They argue that the Chinese retailers’ low prices make it difficult for local clothing, textile, and retail businesses to compete, threatening South African jobs. 

While no ban has been announced, the call has caused concern among shoppers who’ve come to rely on the platforms’ affordability, convenience, and wide variety of products, particularly at a time when household budgets are under pressure. 

Jenna Lauren Szutowicz explained that while she’d love to support local businesses, it’s often difficult. 

“I think we’d all prefer to buy local and assist job creation, but the offerings locally are minuscule, overpriced, and, honestly, more often than not unflattering or catering to a very specific ‘plus size’. I buy clothes for myself, my husband, and my son,” she said. 

A Johannesburg grandmother who buys most of her household items on Temu said she would be devastated if it were to be banned. “A lot of the little things that I buy for my apartment from Temu are useful things that I can’t find anywhere else.” 

She explained that she mainly shops from Temu for organisational items and having it all online is especially convenient because she cannot move around shops the same way she used to. 

“It also helps that if anything doesn’t work, or isn’t the way I wanted it to be, I didn’t spend too much money on it,” she said. 

Johannesburg mother Candice Shaer Myerson places an order with Shein once or twice a month, depending on her budget and what is happening in the month. She said she shops from the Chinese company because of the affordable price point and wide array of products. 

“I have a 13-year-old foster daughter so I buy lots of clothes and arts and crafts things for her. I used to weigh 205kg, and even though I’m down to 132 kg, I still wear plus-size clothes, and there is such a variety and returns are so easy. I also buy all my false nails, files, etcetera on the apps,” she said. 

Shein and Temu are also better options for her because she cannot drive, walk, and stand due to sepsis and gangrene she developed in hospital eight years ago. Because of this, she also lost her career and has less disposable income. 

“Now I earn a third of my salary and work nights for a US company, so shopping online has been a lifesaver for me. Temu and Shein have given me so much freedom to shop, whatever hour of the day or night I am awake, and also from the comfort of my bed or couch,” she said. 

Although she doesn’t have mobility issues, an anonymous twentysomething woman explained that while she shops from a mixture of local retailers like Pick n Pay Clothing and Mr Price, sometimes she has to resort to shopping on Shein, especially when it comes to clothes for a special occasion. 

“There just aren’t shops that have affordable clothes for something like being a guest at a wedding. If you go to a place like Foschini or YDE, a dress would cost close to R1 000, but I can get something more to my taste for closer to R200 on Shein.” 

Many of her friends who are more religious shop almost exclusively on Shein for attractive and affordable modest clothes. 

“It is very difficult to find tsnius clothes in shops that don’t look frumpy, so Shein is really the only option for them most of the time,” she said. 

She believes a ban on Shein and Temu wouldn’t impact her life to a large extent, but would be a massive inconvenience.