Vodacom South Africa has embedded South African Sign Language (SASL) in the workplace.
“Recognised as South Africa’s 12th official language in 2023, SASL is now being integrated across Vodacom’s digital platforms, employee training programmes, and everyday business operations. The initiative will roll out in phases from January 2026,” says Njabulo Mashigo, director: human resources at Vodacom South Africa.
“At Vodacom, inclusion is a serious commitment. This initiative is about fostering a sense of belonging. By embedding SASL into our digital DNA, we’re ensuring Deaf talent are seen, heard, and valued in every aspect of our workplace.”
From September to October, Vodacom enabled the SASL Font across Microsoft 365 and from January will integrate a dedicated SASL dictionary into the company’s Employee Engage app, making it easier for employees to learn, reference, and use SASL in daily interactions.
In January 2026 Vodacom is launching a 12-module SASL learning path across the organisation, developed in collaboration with deaf educators and NID.
Lynette Victor, representative at the National Institute for the Deaf (NID), comments: “Vodacom’s commitment represents a transformative moment for the Deaf community. This partnership demonstrates what is possible when organisations move beyond tokenism to create genuine linguistic access and cultural recognition.”