Why provinces returned over R160 million meant for sanitary dignity initiative

PROCUREMENT delays, capacity issues and distribution mechanisms have been cited as reasons the provincial treasuries have returned more than R160 million in Sanitary Dignity Programme (SDP) funds  to National Treasury in the last three years. 

This emerged when the National Treasury briefed the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities on Tuesday disclosing that a total of R160.4 million making up 22.5% of the R712.2 million allocation for the SDP had been returned. 

Amounts are allocated to provincial governments through the Provincial Equitable Share in the Division of Revenue Act. Provinces are allocated money based on the number of girl learners per province in quintiles 1 to 3 schools. 

The Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape and North West are the major contributors to the aggregated funds returned in this period. Gauteng and Western Cape also returned funds in 2023/24 and 2024/25, respectively. 

The Sanitary Dignity Programme is a collaborative initiative led by the Department of Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities in partnership with the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Social Development. 

The programme aims to support learners, especially girls, by providing free sanitary products, improving school bathroom facilities, and offering education on menstrual health. 

 Treasury said one of their interventions included yearly Provincial Budget Visits, aimed at identifying and addressing challenges and areas of underperformance directly with the heads of departments. Additional visits have also been done with the DWYPD and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). 

“So far, the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape have been visited. These efforts are part of a broader commitment to improving implementation efficiency, ensuring accountability, and enhancing the overall impact of the Sanitary Dignity Programme across all provinces.”

Committee chairperson  Liezl Linda van der Merwe lamented that the funds were not being used for their intended purpose. 

“Northern Cape spends their budget for sanitary dignity to augment the budget pressure relating to compensation of employees. We cannot be giving money from the Treasury to these provinces then they decide to spend it on something else.”

MK MP, Mabel Rweqana questioned what direct intervention had been made by the department to address the issue. 

“Provinces have returned 160.4 million in unspent SGF, what direct intervention has the department made to address poor implementation and why are many girls still not receiving free sanitary goods. Given that the department finalised the (Implementation Framework), how has this applied to enforce provincial compliance and improve delivery, especially in underperforming provinces,” she asked.

Cape Times