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Zimbabwe:
Sanitary pads stuck in Jo'burg as Harare demands duty
ZimOnline
March 14, 2006
http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=11774
HARARE - A consignment
of sanitary towels donated to Zimbabwean women by the Congress of
South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and other groups remains stuck
in Johannesburg because Harare wants duty paid for the goods.
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) spokesman Mlamuleli Sibanda
told ZimOnline that the labour union, which received the pads from
COSATU, will have to pay the duty that is still to be calculated
in order for the donated goods to be allowed into the country.
The government
does not normally charge duty on donated goods.
Sibanda said:
"The stuff is still in South Africa but as the ZCTU we have agreed
to pay the customs duty after the government declined to allow it
for free. We have engaged a clearing house to deal with the issue.
We expect the consignment in the next few weeks."
The ZCTU official
said the clearing agent was still verifying figures to establish
how much duty was due to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
The several
truckloads of sanitary towels were sourced from South African well-wishers
by COSATU and other civic society groups in response to an appeal
for help by the ZCTU Women's Advisory Council.
The women's
council made the appeal after a survey by a British NGO revealed
that many Zimbabwean women were resorting to using newspapers and
rags as substitutes for tampons and pads because these were either
in short supply in the country or too expensive when available.
A packet containing
10 of the cheapest quality sanitary towels costs about $500 000
in Zimbabwe.
Researchers
say on average a woman requires three packets per month bringing
total cost to about $1.5 million and this against an average monthly
wage of slightly more than nine million dollars for women in the
country.
The severe shortage
of sanitary towels - just like the shortage of nearly every basic
survival commodity in Zimbabwe - is because of the country's unprecedented
economic meltdown that has forced many manufacturing companies to
either close down or relocate abroad.
According to
the survey by the British group, the lack of sanitary pads had resulted
in an increase in vaginal infections and this at a time when there
is a shortage of medical drugs in Zimbabwe because there is no hard
cash to pay foreign suppliers.
An executive
member of the women's council Thabitha Khumalo, who helped publicise
the plight of Zimbabwean women in South Africa, is in Britain where
she is also trying to source more donations of sanitary pads.
Both Zimbabwe
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa and ZIMRA Commissioner General
Gershom Pasi could not be reached for comment on the matter.
But this is
not the first time that the Harare administration has put obstacles
in the way of aid given by South African groups.
The Zimbabwe
government last year blocked for several weeks tonnes of food that
had been donated by South African churches for victims of its controversial
home demolition exercise that according to the United Nations left
at least 700 000 people without shelter or means of livelihood after
police bulldozers razed down shanty towns and informal business
kiosks.
The food was
only allowed into Zimbabwe after South Africa's department of agriculture
issued certificates confirming that it was not genetically modified.
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