10 people dedicated to quality and 1 not. In the mathematics of quality that means 10 -1 =0 . So the tailors are top-notch, the embroidery artist is top-notch, the designers are top-notch, and then it goes to one person trusted to iron a trim a shirt who does not give a hoot and all the work that came before it is ruined. The customer gets a poorly presented product from the most talented people on Earth because of one person that holds to different values. As for the image of Africans matching and beating Europe and Asia? Well, that just went out the window. Now we at Ocacia are dealing with one and two weak people. What about Africa as a continent when education is the lowest in the world? Where skills are the lowest in the world. You do not have to think too much to understand the dilemma of our Motherland and why we are where we are. And we need to be transparent about our challenges if we desire a different future. 

After 8 years of creating this prestigious brand and selling clothes from Japan to Brazil, one person puts a stain on our reputation because they do not adhere to the basic ethos of this African business. So while Italy goes forward, France and the top designers of the UK go forward the struggling African business is held back from greatness by one bad employee.

People will say the issue is management did not train them well. But for 3 years they were told to check the paperwork before cutting customer's orders. They still cut blind (cut without checking what was ordered) so they will cut short sleeves when the customer ordered cuffs and we end up catching it at the end and having to remake an entire shirt. They see French cuffs and put on standard cuffs and then it gets caught in the 11th hour and has to be redone. They are then de-promoted and given an easier task of just ironing and folding clothes and trimming them— and this is what they do.  How many signs do we have on our wall to tell staff to “check order specs before cutting”, and “Check websites for designs”? What else can you do? There is already a serious skill shortage in South Africa and getting rid of them causes other problems. We suspend them and then have to bring them back with a warning and they go and do it again. Yet 2 days after being brought back this is what they do. 4 other issues were caught but this one got pass us due to the hectic holiday season. But there are no excuses because we hired them. 

Ultimately only Ocacia is responsible and our reputation is damaged because it is ultimately our fault. These are the challenges of our African business and once we charge premium money we must deliver premium clothes. And the moral of this story is you are only as good as your weakest link. No matter if you have the best tailors, embroidery artists, designers, camera people, and graphics team you only need one weak person in that chain to take your 10/10 to 3/10. This is why after Covid we got rid of most of our staff because numbers did not convert to quality. Just more time on quality control. We have survived and grown in quality and complexity of designs in the last 2 years because of this decision. Sure, things take longer and are more stressful in one way, but the quality is 10/10. For the last two years, we have had ZERO quality complaints, every complaint has been about size, color, etc. Nothing about actual quality. Not one complaint.