Political parties together with GBV organisations are calling on police to pursue criminal cases as 296 pregnancies were recorded among girls aged 10 to 14-years-old in the Western Cape during the 2024/25 financial year.
This is according to statistics released by the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, as shared by DA Western Cape spokesperson on Social Development, Wendy Kaizer-Philander.
Kaizer-Philander called on the department to raise the alarm as the ages of the girls are becoming increasingly younger.
She said it was also a matter for the police to pursue.
“An alarming 296 pregnancies were recorded among girls aged 10 to 14 years in the Western Cape during the 2024/25 financial year,” she said.
“When a child as young as 10 years old presents as pregnant, there can be no ambiguity: this is evidence of child sexual abuse and, at a minimum, statutory rape.
“Such cases must be reported to the South African Police Service and investigated without delay, as required by law.
“The DA is unequivocal in its position that children must be protected, perpetrators must be held accountable, and every institution with a legal duty to act must do so without hesitation.
“Failure to report, investigate, and prosecute cases of child rape and statutory rape not only denies victims justice but also encourages a culture of impunity for perpetrators.”
She added that the Standing Committee on Social Development in the Western Cape will call the Departments of Social Development, Education, and Health and Wellness, together with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Police Service’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit, to appear before the committee.
Siya Monakali, of IIitha Labantu, said the numbers and ages were shocking and that it had sadly become a norm in communities.
“While these figures have generated public concern, we are equally concerned by the manner in which they are often framed in public discourse. Too often, pregnancies involving children are discussed under the broad category of ‘teenage pregnancy’, a term that risks obscuring the reality of what these statistics represent. These are not simply teenage pregnancies. These are children.“
A child aged 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 years cannot be viewed through the same lens as older adolescents when discussing pregnancy, he said.
“Any pregnancy involving a child in this age group should immediately raise serious concerns about child sexual abuse, statutory rape, exploitation, coercion, and the effectiveness of the systems established to protect children from harm.
“As a country, we must be careful not to normalise or sanitise what should be treated as a child protection emergency. The real story is not that children are becoming pregnant. The real story is that children are being violated.”
Last year, the Department of Health and Wellness reported that over the past three financial years, adolescent deliveries have risen by 26.66%, highlighting the ongoing challenges in addressing teenage pregnancies despite existing interventions.
They said data showcases that deliveries for women/children between the ages of 11 and 19 years old had reached 8 114 between the period of 2022/23, 9938 for 2023/24, 10 277 for 2024/25.
Genevieve Serra
iol.co.za