Cape Town - The family of a pregnant 15-year-old from Browns Farm, Philippi, say they are concerned for the young girl’s future and want answers about how she ended up in this position.
The young woman is among a growing number of teenage pregnancies recorded in South Africa. The 15-year-old is currently in Grade 7.
Her family said they only became aware of her pregnancy after seeing her growing stomach.
It is suspected that she was impregnated by a man from the community who allegedly took advantage of her disadvantaged background, by buying her food.
The girl’s grandfather said the family was seeking answers.
“We don’t know how she got pregnant. We just saw that her stomach was growing. She is my grandchild.
She told her grandmother but they said she was scared to tell me. She is young and this concerns me. Now we want to know how did this happen,” the grandfather said.
In statistics provided by the National Health Department, teenage pregnancies have increased nationally from 22 008 in the first quarter to 22 276 in the second quarter, which translates into a 268 increase for ages between 15 and 19 years old.
The Western Cape has recorded the highest increase in teenage pregnancies between the first quarter with 1 608 teenage pregnancies, and 1 835 in the second quarter which translates to an increase of 227 for ages between 15 and 19.
This while the Provincial Health Department said they have recorded 8 837 birth deliveries by women under 19 years old between January and October 2022.
“This is concerning because we have intensified sexual reproductive health campaign and investing in Adolescent Youth Zones in primary health facilities to create enabling environment for young people to feel comfortable to visit clinics where they are attended by young health care workers.
The aim of this is to increase uptake of family planning services to prevent unplanned and unwanted pregnancies which in most cases lead to school dropout and illegal and risky abortions,” national health department spokesperson Foster Mohale said.
“The Deputy Minister of Health Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo has been on a countrywide youth campaign where he held dialogues with young people to discuss on how to curb this because he believes in working with those who are affected, he will find a solution to the problem,” Mohale said.
Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) spokesperson Javu Baloyi called for holistic approach in tackling teenage pregnancy.
“We have been concerned about the recent surge in teenage pregnancy in the country. We have seen children, from as young as ten years old giving birth.
We believe that this needs an effort throughout the country and the provinces. We feel this needs a strong intervention by all involved. It cannot be that these children are raped and yet the country is quiet. We need to look at this issue as holistically as possible,” he said.
Cape Times