The latest intake brings the total staff complement at the factory to 149, all of them fluent in South African Sign Language, which is a requirement to be employed there.
Apart from learners recruited from the St Vincent School for the Deaf, the factory also takes in learners through the Sizwile Deaf Organisation based in Soweto, and other deaf communities across the region.
Through the learnership programmes, participants also receive training in soft skills such as time management, anger management, leadership skills, ethics, budgeting and financial literacy. TFG also offers leadership development programmes, and some of the learners have progressed into Team Leaders and Supervisory roles.
Having started with making blankets, the factory has been upskilled to produce T-shirts, with The Fix as its main customer.
For many of the factory workers, this is their first job as employment opportunities for deaf people are limited.
TFG manufacturing opens doors for deaf learners
TFG Prestige’s Deaf Factory in Johannesburg recently held its first graduation ceremony for 74 graduates who have come through our learnership programmes
