Policy to guide provision of sanitary products

NATIONAL Treasury says the question of how sanitary products will be funded will be guided by a recently-developed policy framework document. Members of Treasury appeared before the Multi-Party Women’s Caucus at the Old Assembly Chamber on Thursday amid mounting calls to have sanitary towels exempt from VAT.

This is due to concerns that a tax on sanitary products is unfair, it impacts negatively in the cost, which makes them unaffordable to women, especially those from poor backgrounds.

After KwaZulu-Natal took the initiative of distributing sanitary products to school children for free, other provinces have since followed suit.

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“What is [being presented] is initiatives taken by provinces to provide sanitary towels… they have reprioritised some of the money from their budgeting systems to assist with this but now when the policy framework is in place, the prioritisation will be based on the policy framework,” Yanga Mputa, a Chief Director at the National Treasury’s Tax Policy Unit said.

According to information provided by provinces on some of the initiatives on sanitary dignity – often done in conjunction with other social relief programmes – Gauteng has allocated R58 million towards sanitary products and other hygiene products, while KwaZulu-Natal has allocated R20 million.

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