Alarming statistics released by the Eastern Cape Department of Health, South Africa, reveal that 4,000 teenage girls have given birth in the province since April 2024.
According to Eastern Cape Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase, a total of 4,055 births were recorded at public health facilities. Of these, 3,961 girls were aged between 15 and 19, while 94 were aged between 10 and 14.
Ndamase noted that the younger girls reported being impregnated by boys of the same age. “Whenever underage girls give birth at our facilities, they are asked who impregnated them. They always say it’s boys their age,” he said.
Factors contributing to these teenage pregnancies were discussed during a dialogue conducted by the Department of Education and the Department of Social Development with parents, learners, educators, and school governing bodies in the Alfred Nzo District and Ingquza in the OR Tambo district. Ndamase identified several factors, including lack of adequate parental care, support, and supervision; insufficient education on sexual reproductive health; alcohol abuse; peer pressure; and gender-based violence.
National spokesperson for the Department of Health, Foster Mohale, reported that between April 2023 and March 2024, a total of 2,716 girls aged 10–14 years and 119,586 girls aged 15–19 years became mothers across the country. Additionally, 1,226 girls aged 10–14 and 19,246 girls aged 15–19 had abortions during this period.
“These are young girls still attending primary and early high school levels,” Mohale noted, emphasizing that these figures only include those from public health facilities, suggesting that the actual numbers could be higher if private health facility data were included.
To address these issues, the Department is implementing Youth Zones to facilitate easier access to health services for young people without long waits. “The youth are seen in dedicated consulting rooms and are attended to by younger nurses.”
National statistics from April 2023 to March 2024 show that KwaZulu-Natal reported the highest number of teenage pregnancies, followed by Gauteng and Limpopo. In KwaZulu-Natal, there were 610 pregnancies among girls aged 10–14 and 30,478 among those aged 15–19. Gauteng reported 430 pregnancies among girls aged 10–14 and 19,406 among those aged 15–19. Limpopo had 375 pregnancies in the 10–14 age group and 16,262 in the 15–19 age group. Other provinces include Mpumalanga with 293 pregnancies among girls aged 10–14 and 11,534 among those aged 15–19, Northern Cape with 70 pregnancies among 10–14-year-olds and 3,538 among 15–19-year-olds, North West with 151 pregnancies among 10–14-year-olds and 7,525 among 15–19-year-olds, and Western Cape with 286 pregnancies among 10–14-year-olds and 9,622 among 15–19-year-olds.
