Latest news with #SteveLetsike
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Health
- The Citizen
SA teen pregnancy crisis: 90 000 pregnancies recorded in 2024
Of 90 000 pregnancies recorded in girls aged 10 to 19, more than 2 300 were among girls aged between 10 and 14. These numbers speak not only of a health crisis, but also a grave injustice against children forced to become mothers, stakeholders said at a meeting this week. Teenage pregnancies 'robbing girls of their future' Steve Letsike, Deputy Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, warns that these numbers poses a threat to South Africans. Letsike said the scourge of teenage pregnancy is not only a health concern but a threat to the nation's social and moral fibre and future prosperity. 'Teenage pregnancy is robbing too many of our girls of their childhood and their future, and it will take all of us working together to turn the tide,' Letsike said at a stakeholder engagement in Pretoria recently aimed at addressing the persistent ongoing scourge of teenage pregnancy. Not only a statistic but also a crime He said 2 328 girls younger between 10 and 14-years-old recorded pregnancies last year. 'To call this alarming would be an understatement. These are children, some barely in their teens, some not even teenagers, now forced into motherhood,' Letsike said. Letsike said a child as young as 10 becoming pregnant was not just a statistic but evidence of a profound societal failure and a horrific crime because a girl that young cannot legally give consent. 'This crisis threatens the very foundation of our social and economic development as teenage pregnancy poses a serious threat to the health, rights, education and socio-economic well-being of girls. 'When a young girl becomes a mother, her chances of finishing school plummet, her job prospects diminish, and she often becomes trapped in a cycle of poverty. 'In other words, today's teen pregnancy is tomorrow's poverty and inequality. We must recognise this as not only a public health issue but a social justice emergency,' the deputy minister said. Letsike said the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy in the country was interlinked with other scourges of HIV and other STI infection rates, child sexual abuse, statutory rape, gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), poverty, educational exclusion, substance abuse and even toxic elements of popular culture. 'To craft effective solutions, we must honestly confront how and why so many young girls are getting pregnant,' Letsike said. Urgent response needed Deputy Minister in the Presidency Nonceba Mhlauli said teenage pregnancy in South Africa has reached deeply concerning levels. 'These are not just numbers; they are a stark reflection of our socio-economic challenges and a call to action. Teenage pregnancy is more than a health crisis,' she said. Mhlauli said the response to teenage pregnancy must be urgent, coordinated and compassionate. 'Government cannot do this work alone. We need the support of all pillars of society, parents, faith leaders, educators, civil society, the media and the private sector,' she said. Pregnancies indicate inability to protect girls Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Board Asanda Luwaca said 'young girls are our sisters, our classmates, our cousins, our peers and children'. 'It is an indictment of our inability, as a collective, to fully protect the bodies, rights and dreams of girls, especially those from poor, rural and marginalised communities, especially differently abled,' she said. Luwaca said teenage pregnancy was not just about health, but injustice. 'It is about gender inequality, poverty, exploitation, broken family systems, absent accountability and a dangerous silence that protects perpetrators more than it protects girls. 'And until we confront these intersecting issues head-on with honesty, bravery and unflinching determination, we will continue to fail the young women of this nation. South Africa has the policies. We have the frameworks. What we need now is unapologetic implementation across every level of society,' Luwaca said. The engagement with stakeholders is part of an initiative to establish a Roadmap to South Africa's Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Management Response. – Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal. Read original story on At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
The Citizen
13-07-2025
- Health
- The Citizen
Teenage pregnancy labelled a national crisis by deputy minister
Steve Letsike, deputy minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, has warned that teenage pregnancy is not only a health issue but also a threat to South Africa's social fabric and future prosperity. Speaking at a high-level stakeholder engagement in Pretoria, Letsike said there were over 90 000 pregnancies recorded among girls aged between 10 and 19 in 2024, with more than 2 300 of these cases involving girls between 10 and 14. 'To call this alarming would be an understatement. These are children, some barely in their teens, some not even teenagers, now forced into motherhood,' he said. He stressed that a child as young as 10 becoming pregnant was not just a statistic but a tragic societal failure and, in many cases, the result of criminal acts. 'This crisis threatens the foundation of our social and economic development. Teenage pregnancy poses a serious threat to the health, rights, education and socio-economic well-being of girls,' he said. The deputy minister explained that teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, face reduced job prospects, and become trapped in poverty – a cycle that perpetuates inequality. 'In other words, today's teen pregnancy is tomorrow's poverty and inequality. We must recognise this as not only a public health issue but a social justice emergency.' Letsike added that the crisis is linked to a range of broader societal issues, including child sexual abuse, statutory rape, HIV and STI rates, gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), poverty, substance abuse and harmful cultural narratives. 'To craft effective solutions, we must honestly confront how and why so many young girls are getting pregnant,' he said. Deputy ,inister in the Presidency Nonceba Mhlauli echoed these concerns, saying the numbers reflect deeper socio-economic issues and require an urgent, coordinated response. 'These are not just numbers. Teenage pregnancy is more than a health crisis – it's a national emergency. Government cannot do this work alone,' she said. Mhlauli called on all sectors of society, including parents, educators, faith-based organisations, civil society, media and the private sector, to unite in safeguarding the future of South Africa's children. Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency, Asanda Luwaca, also addressed the engagement, calling teenage pregnancy an injustice rooted in systemic failures. 'It is about gender inequality, poverty, exploitation, broken family systems, absent accountability and a dangerous silence that protects perpetrators more than it protects girls,' said Luwaca. She emphasised the importance of implementation, saying South Africa already has policies and frameworks in place. 'What we need now is unapologetic implementation across every level of society,' she said. The stakeholder engagement is part of a national initiative to establish a Roadmap to South Africa's Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Management Response. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
