Durban - The African Christian Democratic Party has welcomed recommendations to have no Value Added Tax (Vat) levied on sanitary products. Now, the party is urging Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene to act on the recommendation - made by the Vat panel.
On Friday, Nene released a report on the review of the current list of items that are zero-rated for Vat, recommending that sanitary products and nappies be included in the list of zero-rated items. The list also included school uniforms, cake flour and bread flour.
ACDP MP, Cheryllyn Dudley said as millions of girls miss more than a week a month of schooling if they lack the money to purchase sanitary pads, this affects the education and future careers of female learners and ultimately affects the country all as the contribution of women to the economy is an important element.
“We applaud the work of Project Dignity that has fundraised to distribute best option free sanitary packs called ‘Subz’ that are washable, re-usable and biodegradable. We are calling on government to find the budget to provide basic sanitary items free of charge where necessary”, Dudley said.
She said women make up one half of the population of South Africa, and menstruation affects them for 30 to 40 years of their lives.
According to Project Dignity CEO, Sue Barnes, they have supplied 150 000 free packs.
“Whilst this represents a lot of hard work it is just a fraction of those required by the four million needy girls in South Africa,” she said.
The public has until August 31 to submit their comments.