According to the latest data, just under 292 girls in the age range from 10 to 14 gave birth at public hospitals in the Eastern Cape during the 2025/26 financial year.
- A total of 292 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth at Eastern Cape public hospitals during the 2025/26 financial year, down from 396 the previous year.
- While Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa said she was “encouraged” by the drop, child rights activist Petros Majola warned against complacency.
- The Reverend Xolamzi Sam said the conversation should instead centre on the arrest of those who impregnated the girls.
A total of 292 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth at public hospitals in the Eastern Cape during the 2025/26 financial year.
The data showed a decrease compared to 396 girls of the same age who gave birth during the 2024/25 financial year.
A total of 13 916 teenagers aged 15 to 19 gave birth during the 2025/26 financial year, compared to 14 903 of the same age in the 2024/25 financial year.
Eastern Cape Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa said she was “encouraged” by the decrease.
She cited the drop to “emerging evidence of a sustained decline in teenage and child births across the province, signalling that ongoing prevention and community-based interventions are beginning to yield results”.
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But stakeholders in the province believed the numbers remained concerning.
“We want zero figures. We should begin to worry, even if one or two children get pregnant,” said child activist Petros Majola, from the Khula Community Development Project, a non-profit organisation focusing on children’s rights.
Majola said parents had a responsibility to make sure there were no child and teenage pregnancies in their communities.
“Parents must stop outsourcing their parental responsibilities. We will only realise zero figures in child pregnancy if parents can take a stand,” said Majola.
According to the Eastern Cape Department of Health, data for the 2025/26 financial year showed that child births among girls aged 10 to 14 “declined significantly”, particularly in the latter half of the year.
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“This reflects a broader multi-year downward trend, with births in this age group decreasing from 553 in 2022/23 to 292 in 2025/26.
“A similar, though more gradual, decline is observed among adolescents aged 15 to 19. While quarterly figures remain high, the province has seen a steady reduction over time, with total births declining from 17 064 in 2022/23 to 13 916 in 2025/26,” the department said.
The Reverend Xolamzi Sam, a clergyman who previously served as the convener of the Eastern Cape’s Men’s Movement, said the focus should be on the arrests of those impregnating the young girls.
Sam, a patron of the Xolamzi Sam Foundation, said:
It’s really a tragedy when we can be encouraged by a decrease in child pregnancy. We should be talking about the arrests of those who got them pregnant in the first place.
The drop, said the department, was “attributed to strengthened multi-sectoral collaboration involving the departments of education and social development, alongside community partners, aimed at addressing the social and behavioural drivers of teenage pregnancy, including access to information, reproductive health services, and community awareness”.
The department stated that reducing teenage pregnancy was not only about lowering numbers, but also about improving health outcomes for both mother and child.
“Efforts will therefore continue to focus on early antenatal booking, prevention programmes, and strengthening primary healthcare services, particularly in high-burden districts.
“The department emphasises that pregnancies in girls under the age of 16 are not merely a health concern, but constitute statutory rape in terms of the law. For this reason, collaboration with law enforcement has been significantly strengthened.”
Sithandiwe Velaphi
www.news24.com
