Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities Steve Letsike says the scourge of teenage pregnancy is not only a health concern but a threat to the nation’s social and moral fibre and future prosperity.
“Teenage pregnancy is robbing too many of our girls of their childhood and their future, and it will take all of us working together to turn the tide,” Letsike said.
Addressing a stakeholder engagement in Pretoria earlier today aimed at addressing the persistent ongoing scourge of teenage pregnancy in South Africa, Letsike said in 2024 alone, over 90 000 pregnancies were recorded among girls aged 10 to 19 and 2 328 of those pregnancies were in girls between 10 and 14 years old.
“To call this alarming would be an understatement. These are children, some barely in their teens, some not even teenagers, now forced into motherhood,” Letsike said.
Letsike said a child as young as 10 becoming pregnant was not just a statistic but evidence of a profound societal failure and a horrific crime because a girl that young cannot legally give consent.
“This crisis threatens the very foundation of our social and economic development as teenage pregnancy poses a serious threat to the health, rights, education and socio-economic well-being of girls.
“When a young girl becomes a mother, her chances of finishing school plummet, her job prospects diminish and she often becomes trapped in a cycle of poverty.
“In other words, today’s teen pregnancy is tomorrow’s poverty and inequality. We must recognise this as not only a public health issue but a social justice emergency,” the Deputy Minister said.
Letsike said the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy in the country was interlinked with other scourges of HIV and other STI infection rates, child sexual abuse, statutory rape, gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), poverty, educational exclusion, substance abuse and even toxic elements of popular culture.
“To craft effective solutions, we must honestly confront how and why so many young girls are getting pregnant,” Letsike said.
Deputy Minister in the Presidency Nonceba Mhlauli said teenage pregnancy in South Africa has reached deeply concerning levels with more than 90 000 births recorded among girls aged 10 to 19.
“These are not just numbers, they are a stark reflection of our socio-economic challenges and a call to action. Teenage pregnancy is more than a health crisis,” she said.
Mhlauli said the response to teenage pregnancy must be urgent, coordinated and compassionate.
“Government cannot do this work alone. We need the support of all pillars of society, parents, faith leaders, educators, civil society, the media and the private sector.
“As the Presidency, we are committed to supporting this cause through improved coordination, targeted interventions and policy coherence because the future of our country depends on the safety, empowerment and well-being of our children,” she said.
Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Board Asanda Luwaca said “young girls are our sisters, our classmates, our cousins, our peers and children”.
“It is an indictment of our inability, as a collective, to fully protect the bodies, rights and dreams of girls, especially those from poor, rural and marginalised communities, especially differently abled.
“We know that teenage pregnancy is not a standalone issue. It is deeply interwoven with child sexual abuse, gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), educational exclusion, toxic gender norms, substance abuse, and the predatory dynamics of poverty,” she said.
Luwaca said teenage pregnancy was not just about health, but injustice.
“It is about gender inequality, poverty, exploitation, broken family systems, absent accountability and a dangerous silence that protects perpetrators more than it protects girls.
“And until we confront these intersecting issues head-on with honesty, bravery and unflinching determination, we will continue to fail the young women of this nation. South Africa has the policies. We have the frameworks. What we need now is unapologetic implementation across every level of society,” Luwaca said.
The engagement with stakeholders is part of an initiative to establish a Roadmap to South Africa’s Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Management Response. – SAnews.gov.za
