Student leaders donate sanitary pads to Ikageng school

Girls at Resolofetse Secondary School in Ikageng township received a donation of sanitary pads, coupled with a talk on female empowerment, said Monde Kasana, the treasurer-general of the Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC) on the Potchefstroom campus of North-West University.

The EFFSC delivered their first batch of donated pads to the school during October.

This initiative follows after the EFFSC conducted research which revealed that a large number of high school students in South Africa are forced to skip school due to the lack of sanitary pads.

 “The EFFSC realised that there is a social need for sanitary pads, particularly when it comes to the girl child who is still in high school,” said Kasana.

He explained that the EFFSC had received generous donations from students in NWU student residences as well as people outside of the university.

In an article posted in 2019, Itumeleng Letsoalo, a Global Citizen fellow and social justice activist said, “Menstrual health management is one of the big issues that South African girls are faced with. An estimate of 3.7 million girls are unable to afford sanitary pads.”

A study conducted by Stellenbosch University (SU) revealed that 30% of South African girls do not go to school when they are menstruating because they are unable to afford sanitary pads.

The lack of sanitary pads is not only an obstacle in education for many young girls, but it also contributes to gender inequality since their employment potential is decreased due to missing out on education.

“We have realised that the absence of these sanitary pads strips them of their dignity, which is why we took the initiative to start this pad drive”, said Kasana.

Although the drive is a nationwide initiative the EFFSC Potchefstroom felt it was necessary to make an impact in the surrounding township by adopting a school.

“We saw Ikageng as a disadvantaged township and if the township itself is disadvantaged, the girls have it much worse. Sanitary pads are expensive and as long as they are sold, there will always be a need,” said Siphokazi August, the gender officer of the EFFSC NWU Potchefstroom campus.

In addition to donating pads, the EFFSC talked to both the grade 11 girls and boys about teenage pregnancy, the use of contraceptives, gender-based violence and female empowerment.

“The aim was to empower these young girls, prepare them for the world and also speak about things parents and teachers do not speak about,” said August. – Tamry Esiri