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The DA Youth hails the announcement that the DA campaign to scrap VAT on books has taken a giant leap forward, with the Standing Committee on Finance requesting a report from the National Treasury on the impact of a zero rating on the fiscal framework. This issue is now firmly on the parliamentary agenda for consideration and implementation and is a real victory for the DA and the DA Youth.

The DA Youth has actively supported the proposal by Dr. Dion George MP, Shadow Minister for Finance, to zero-rate VAT on books, and in May held pickets across 17 campuses in South Africa and handed over a memorandum to the Finance Committee Chair to lobby support. 

We feel that this development has a particular significance for students, both in basic and tertiary education, to whom access to information is often denied by the exorbitant cost of textbooks. With books set to be zero-rated, a library making a purchase order of 3,000 new books could purchase roughly 400 additional books, thus having significant, positive knock-on effects particularly for those South Africans relying on libraries as a source of books. 

Promotion of literacy is the most powerful weapon we have in the fight to beat poverty, and we as the DA Youth are proud to form part of a successful campaign to expand access to knowledge to millions of young South Africans.