Staff Reporter.
@MichaelPinyana.
The Gauteng health department recorded more than 23 000 teenage pregnancies between April 2020 and March 2021, with 934 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 giving birth.
This was revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in a written response to questions from the DA tabled in the Gauteng legislature.
A total of 23 226 teenage pregnancies were recorded in that time period, with 2 976 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 choosing to terminate the pregnancy.
“These numbers are sad and incredibly troubling considering that these are young girls still have bright futures ahead of them. Teenage pregnancy remains a serious social and health problem in South Africa. It poses a health risk to both mother and child, and it also has social consequences such as continuing the cycle of poverty and early school dropout,” said the DA in a statement.
July saw the most births from girls between the ages of 15 and 19 (1 984 deliveries), while August had the highest number of deliveries (155) for girls between the ages of 10 and 14.
Mokgethi said that the department had no data on how many statutory rape cases were opened because of the pregnancies.
The DA also called on the social development, education and health departments to intensify their campaigns against teenage pregnancy.
Meanwhile Parliament’s Multi-Party Women’s Caucus (MPWC), has expressed concern over the high teenage pregnancy rate in South Africa.
Expressing her concern over the staggering numbers, MPWC Chairperson Nkhensani Kate Bilankulu, warned that there is a legal age for sexual consent, and “10 years old is definitely not the age.”
“These numbers were released during Women’s Month, what does it mean about our young women and girl-children? I want to see all the perpetrators, be it educators or anyone else, behind bars. I call on the authorities to clearly state how many cases have been opened that relate to teenage pregnancies,” Bilankulu said.