‘Relief for the poor and destitute’
Mboweni’s medium-term Budget welcomed by rights groups
FINANCE Minister Tito Mboweni’s medium-term spending plans aimed at reducing poverty and inequality are a relief to the poor and destitute.
Human rights organisation the Black Sash said it was crucial for the government to ensure that the poor had access to basic services, social grants, education and health care.
Black Sash paralegal field worker Jerome Bele said Mboweni’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement would bring relief and make a difference to schoolchildren.
“You will remember that the provincial government had to intervene in the sanitary pads crisis, where children from disadvantaged backgrounds would stay at home when they were on their menstrual cycle.
“These sanitary pads should have been given for free, like condoms, a long time ago. We are happy that the minister has seen the need to ease the burden on the poor,” Bele said.
He said the Budget came as a relief, as the increases in basic necessities affected pensioners and those who receive child support grants.
In his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, Mboweni announced that white bread flour, cake flour and sanitary pads would be zero-rated from April 1, 2019, to help low-income households.
He said pupils needed to be protected in schools and that it must be ensured that female pupils received free sanitary pads.
In addition, pit latrine toilets at schools needed to be eradicated.
The KwaZulu-Natal Parents’ Association welcomed the developments.
Chairperson Vee Gani said although they did not know where the money would come from, the announcement was a “victory” for children from poor backgrounds.
“It’s true that sometimes our girls miss school because of the lack of these pads, and this is something out their control. The pit latrine toilets have been an eyesore for so long. It is high time that they are replaced with proper toilets.
“The other zero-rated items like flour will also assist those from poor backgrounds,” he said.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) welcomed the bulk of Mboweni’s mid-term Budget as a laudable attempt to tackle South Africa’s financial crisis.
The organisation’s chief executive, Wayne Duvenage, said Mboweni’s was an “economy-stimulating” and “corruption-fighting” speech that recognised the need to deal with declining governance and malfeasance across all levels of government.
“We welcome the efforts to address the R32 billion overspending on the public sector wage bill, along with a number of initiatives to lighten the load on the poor and vulnerable. In particular, we welcome the zero-rating of VAT on essentials; the promise to provide proper toilets and schools for our youth; funding for more health professionals; and investment in the labour-intensive agriculture sector to drive job creation,” Duvenage said.