Two additional stories related to "Sanitary pads stuck in Jo'burg as Harare demands duty":
From zimbabwejournalists.com...
WOMEN in Zimbabwe anxiously awaiting a shipment of sanitary towels from South Africa must wait a little longer, Thabitha Khumalo, the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions’ women’s desk, has said. The department of customs and excise is demanding hefty duty payments in order to admit the consignment of sanitary towels into the country. The towels were donated following a campaign launched late last year in London by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and another one in South Africa. Towels from London are passed on by ACTSA to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) for on-ward transmission to Harare through the ZCTU.
The sanitary towels will remain stuck at the border until duty has been paid to the Zimbabwean government. Duty normally is not imposed on donated goods but for reasons best known to custom officials, money has to be paid first for the consignment to cross into Zimbabwe.
Many believe the customs officials are deliberately throwing the duty hurdle towards the ZCTU since it is viewed as an organisation that is against the government. This also stems from the hostility with which the government of Zimbabwe looks at donations coming from organizations that do not have good relations with it, like COSATU. Relations are far from cordial between COSATU and Harare. This hostility also led to delays of almost two months for donated food and other materials from South African churches last year.
After the launch of the London initiative to raise funds to buy sanitary towels for women in Zimbabwe, the women’s affairs desk of the ZCTU launched a similar campaign in South Africa and managed to get donations of the sanitary towels now stuck at the border.
Khumalo says the response to this campaign was overwhelming in South Africa with people from all walks of life responding to the call to assist Zimbabwean women. Media organizations in the country also helped publicise the campaign resulting in massive donations.
Khumalo says the ZCTU had notified the Zimbabwe government before the launch of the campaign to ensure no red tape would be thrown in the way to stop the smooth transportation of the towels to Zimbabwe.
ZCTU deputy Secretary General, Collin Gwiyo, says the workers umbrella body is in the process of sourcing for funds to pay for the duty because the government has also asked them to pay for storage facilities as well at Beitbridge border post. Gwiyo says the sour relations between the government and the ZCTU could be the major setback in this campaign resulting in the unions being asked to pay duty for donated goods. By law, donated goods do not attract duty in Zimbabwe. He said the ZCTU will go out of its way to raise the funds because the sanitary towels are badly needed in Zimbabwe.
The cost of sanitary pads is now past beyond the reach of ordinary women in the country, if at all they are available. The political and economic crisis in the country pushed out the largest producers of sanitary pads, Johnson and Johnson, and other small producers have either left the country or cut production drastically. This resulted in the little that is available on the market becoming to expensive for most mothers who would prefer to put food on the table than buy expensive sanitary towels.
From the BBC...
Zimbabwe's government says sanitary towels donated during an international appeal must be quality tested before any duty exemption will be considered.
The economic crisis has led to a desperate shortage of tampons and pads and many women cannot afford them.
Trade unionists say the government initially agreed to waive duty charges.
"We will pay because women can't wait, but we want the government to reimburse us," Thabitha Khumalo of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions told the BBC.
The first 40-ton truckload of what is hoped will be monthly shipments is due to leave South Africa in the next few days.
With an 80% unemployment rate and a minimum monthly wage of [U.S.] $21, a packet of 10 sanitary towels costing $5 is beyond the reach of most Zimbabwean women.
The government maintains the problem is being blown out of proportion.
'Absolutely deplorable'
The ZCTU launched the sanitary towel appeal in October last year in the UK and South Africa and has been overwhelmed with the response from big business as well as ordinary South Africans.
Zimbabwe's deputy information minister said the involvement of the ZCTU - allied to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party - had politicised the issue.
"People are creating a crisis that does not exit. It's a lie to seek attention," Bright Matonga told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
The ZCTU says that the ministry of finance had promised in February that duty charges would not be applied and has reneged because the trade union is not a charity.
"It's a dignity issue. I don't see why we should pay duty. Over and above that, every single woman will benefit because it's a free distribution," Ms Khumalo said.
But Mr Matonga said the organisation should apply to the health ministry for duty exemption and a quality-control test, after this the sanitary ware could be distributed by the ministry.
The move has been criticised by international organisations involved in raising money.
"These are donated goods, not a political issue. It's outrageous to make gain out of international solidarity between women," Action for Southern Africa's Euan Wilmshurst told the BBC News website.
[The] Congress of South African Trade Unions' Peter Craven said it was "absolutely deplorable".
Taboo
Until 1999, sanitary towels were manufactured locally but the economic crisis has meant many companies have left Zimbabwe.
Ms Khumalo says the critical shortage has been ignored as it is taboo to talk about periods in public, which is why the unions sought international help.
"Women have resorted to using newspapers, tissue papers and those in rural areas are using leaves and the bark of trees," she said.
This, she says, has led to an increase of vaginal infections.
"Gone are the days when women were embarrassed to talk about it because women are getting sick."
Mr Matonga dismissed these allegations saying there were enough sanitary towels available.
"The Zimbabwe government won't sit back and let women suffer. We care about our women," he said.
The ZCTU said it will raise the money for the duty from its partners abroad and hopes to be able to start distributing sanitary towels to women next week.
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