To
Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and People with Disabilities
From
Charl S. Van Blerk
Subject
Zero-rated VAT status for women’s sanitary products.
Date
18 March 2022 11:55 p.m.
Dear Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and People with Disabilities,

I was reading an article published by the BBC stating that Scotland has become the first country in the world to provide free women’s sanitary products and not so long ago, barely 2 years ago. South Africa has been admired throughout the world for our liberal and progressive views, but it baffles me that we as a nation and a government never caught on to the urgency of providing sanitary products in women’s public bathrooms, schools, and providing at the very least zero-rated VAT status for women’s sanitary products.

I’m not even female, but I hear it all the time from women, how expensive the products are, how humiliating it is to start your period unexpectedly in a public place without sanitary products nearby. We provide access to free condoms but not access to free tampons or pads. Sex is a choice; a woman’s menstrual cycle isn’t a choice. Sanitary products aren’t a luxury, they are an essential.

We have our basic products like fruit & vegetables at zero-rated VAT because we deem them as essentials to live, sanitary products are just as essential to women. Imagine the many girls and women in townships who don’t have access to these products or simply can’t afford them. It strips them of their dignity and takes the pride of being woman away. No girl or woman should be denied access to these products because of their economic situation.

I would like to propose to the committee that a bill be introduced that will ensure that all schools across the nation are mandated to have sanitary products in girls’ bathrooms as well as other public bathrooms across the country. I recommend that the committee investigate reclassifying sanitary products to a zero-rated VAT status. The committee needs to also look at alternatives like “period cups” instead of the traditional sanitary products as they may be more cost effective.


Kind Regards,
Charl S. Van Blerk
Cape Town, Republic of South Africa
Member of the Culture Commission of the Western Cape Government
Branch Secretary of Cape Metro Hub (DA)