Sustainable future in fashion

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Health has long been a focus of the Group’s corporate social investment (CSI) programme and has never been more relevant than during the COVID-19 pandemic. An area of ongoing support has been the development of 12 public hospitals and clinics, catering for many millions of poorer South Africans, with more than R16.5 million invested in upgrading hospitals since 2010. The Group recently donated 10 incubators to the Tshilidzini Hospital in Limpopo to assist in reducing infant mortality at the hospital. Through its long-standing partnership with The Reach For A Dream Foundation, the Group funded the building of Dream Rooms for patients and their parents at the Queen Nandi Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal and Kimberley Hospital, and has committed to a third at the Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein.

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

The Group invested R116 million in training and development of staff in 2021. In South Africa, 98% of those trained were black employees. Education is a key focus of the Group’s CSI programme which invests in projects to improve educational infrastructure. A third major project was funded for Afrika Tikkun, with the building of two classrooms for their youth development programme and three early childhood development classrooms in Alexandra, Gauteng. Funding was also provided towards the new campus for the Leap Maths and Science School in Alexandra that will be completed in 2022.

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Empowering young women is core to the Group’s CSI and enterprise development strategy through projects including support for The Clothing Bank which has assisted over 3 600 unemployed women to date. The commitment to gender equality is also reflected within the Group’s workforce where 71% of employees are female. The Group opposes gender-based violence in all its forms and in the past year partnered with the Social Makeover Project in the Western Cape, South Africa to provide counselling to women at risk.

Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all

The Group is committed to responsible and cautious staffing strategies to remain a stable employer in all economic cycles, directly employing over 11 000 people across its operations and creating thousands more jobs indirectly.

Truworths is a signatory to the South African Retail – Clothing, Textile, Footwear and Leather (R-CTFL) Master Plan between the government, labour unions, clothing/footwear and textile manufacturers and major clothing retailers, which aims to create 160 000 jobs in the manufacturing industry by 2030. The acquisition of local design house Barrie Cline, which has been an exclusive supplier to Truworths for over 30 years, is in line with the objectives of the R-CTFL Master Plan and provides stability and a base for the business to grow.

Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

The Group promotes responsible consumption and opposes the dumping of unsold garments in landfill sites. The Group partners with organisations that recycle or re-use damaged goods or convert fabrics into garments for resale. All suppliers are required to commit to good environmental practices. Materials associated with merchandise are recycled or re-used where possible, while the business continues to seek ways to limit packaging on merchandise. Plastic bag usage more than halved as initiatives were introduced to limit single-use plastic, with the piloting of paper and recyclable shopping bags in South Africa. In the past year alone in South Africa, 480 tonnes of cardboard cartons and 102 tonnes of plastic were recycled, with approximately 8 million plastic clothing hangers re-used in stores.