New factory by MENstruation foundation aims to end period poverty for millions in South Africa

The MENstruation Foundation has opened its own Padco factory, and created the Agojie Pad to combat period poverty in South Africa, a dream which SA actor and comedian Siv Ngesi and Marius Basson have been waiting for.

Information of the location of the factory in the Western Cape has yet to be disclosed by the team.

Co-founded by Ngesi and Basson, the foundation aims to restore dignity and opportunity to girls by providing access to menstrual products. 

Ngesi emphasises that this is a "human issue," and the goal is to create sustainable, long-term impact.

The Agojie Pad, named after the female warriors of Dahomey, is the flagship product, produced locally and affordably. 

Padco's circular model allows the foundation to generate income, reinvest in communities, and expand its reach. 

The foundation's Sanitary Pad Dispensing Machine Project already provides free pads in schools and communities across South Africa and the factory is a second leg of this initiative.

With over seven million South African girls and women missing school, work, or sport due to lack of access to menstrual products, the MENstruation Foundation  said they were committed to ending period poverty, ensuring "no stigma, no shame, no missed opportunity".

“If men bled once a month, sanitary pads would be free," is the words Ngesi often uses behind their vision and has been advocating the plight for years.

It all began during a conversation at a wedding and later a phone call on Basson’s daughter's, Katelyn’s eighth birthday, which quickly turned into a nationwide movement, with the vision and goal to end period poverty.

Ngesi said their vision was not that of profit but to help sustain the dignity of young girls: “We believed from day one that there’s a reason MEN is in menstruation and MAN is in humanity. This is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human issue. We’re not here to make a momentary splash; we’re here to win the war. That’s why we are creating the Agojie Pad (the Agojie Pad, a high-quality sanitary product named in honour of the legendary all-female Agojie warriors of Dahomey) and built Padco to make sustainable, meaningful, long-term impact."

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