Cops crack down on illegal sanitary towels

Thousands of illegal sanitary towels, cosmetics and containers of shoe polish were seized by a police joint operation this morning, Mpumalanga News has reported.

The raid also saw R16 000 in notes as well as several bags of coins confiscated

The products were found at an illegal manufacturing firm at Rocky’s Drift, known as Emkhiweni, this morning.

It is alleged that the Chinese owners import the goods and repack them into packages of South African known brands.

A total of 14 undocumented migrants employed at the factory were arrested – including 12 Malawians and two Chinese workers.

“They will appear at the White River Magistrate’s Court soon,” said Brigadiere Mntsholi Bhembe.­­­­­­­­­­­

The Mpumalanga provincial executive recently undertook to provide free sanitary towels to schoolgirls in the province.

Access to sanitary towels is a problem for many schoolgirls in South Africa, with various organisations stepping in to try to improve the situation. These include Kindness Life Confetti (KLC) and Trek 4 Mandela, whose 2016 expedition to Kilimanjaro culminated in the tragic death of racing car driver Gugu Zulu.

KLC, based in Johannesburg, collects sanitary pads for distribution to young women at schools and in low income communities. Contact them on 072 675 1536 to find your nearest sanitary pad drop-off point.