JOHANNESBURG, Nov 29 (NNN-SANEWS) — South Africa is grappling with a growing crisis of adolescent and teenage pregnancy, with a significant number of these cases amounting to statutory rape.
“These are not merely pregnancies; many are violations. Many are statutory rapes. Many reflect our collective failure to protect childhood itself,” Deputy Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mmapaseka Steve Letsike said in Johannesburg, during the Adolescent Pregnancy Indaba.
Government convened the dialogue to strengthen South Africa’s response to the alarming rising rate in adolescent pregnancies and associated social, health, developmental and economic challenges.
In the 2024/25 financial year alone, 117,195 girls aged 10–19 gave birth. Among girls aged 15–19, one in every 24 gave birth.
When the stats include terminations of pregnancy, the adolescent pregnancy rate rises to 48.9 per 1,000 while pregnancies among 10–14-year-old children are at 1.2 per 1 000.
The Deputy Minister said South Africa cannot continue pretending that girls are falling pregnant in isolation.
“Behind every adolescent pregnancy is an older man, a partner with power, or a system that has normalised male entitlement. So today, I issue a direct and radical call: Men must be more than allies — they must be participants, protectors, advocates, and activists for girls’ rights and bodily autonomy. The future of our girls demands nothing less than a revolution in how men understand power, consent, and responsibility,” she said.
Letsike said inaction threatens the constitutional promise of equality.
“If we remain passive, we do not merely risk falling behind — we risk institutionalising a future where the dreams of girls are continuously deferred, and the Republic forfeits the talent, innovation, and leadership that adolescent girls could offer,” the Deputy Minister said.
Through the dialogue government intends to emerge with a coordinated and evidence-based response that meets the scale of the challenge.
“A whole-of-society response means we refuse to tolerate parallel efforts. We build integrated, coordinated pathways of prevention, support, and empowerment.
“Each of these pregnancies carries ripple effects: a girl who leaves school prematurely; a family stretched beyond its means; a child born into conditions shaped by inequality; and a community left to navigate the burdens that follow.
“When we fail to intervene, we entrench generational disadvantage and we allow the structural drivers – poverty, coercion, harmful masculinities, and unequal access to healthcare – to deepen their roots,” she said.
According to the Deputy Minister, teenage pregnancy is driven by harmful social norms and patriarchal masculinities; poverty and inequality; and structural inequality in schooling.
In addition, adolescence pregnancy can be attributed to limited access to adolescent-friendly Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) services; community silence; and institutional fragmentation in government.
“Unless our interventions directly confront these structural drivers – poverty, power, patriarchy, silence, and institutional fragmentation – we will simply recycle the crisis into the next generation. And we must refuse to do so.
“The cost of inaction is not only social and moral; it is economic and developmental. Young mothers are far less likely to complete schooling or enter the workforce, leading to diminished lifetime earnings and reduced participation in the labour market.
“South Africa’s economy absorbs this loss through decreased productivity, increased social welfare strain, and the compounding effects of intergenerational poverty,” she warned. — NNN-SANEWS
