Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko has applauded the province’s teenage pregnancy strategy, saying it is working.

The strategy, developed in 2023, aims to cut high pregnancy rates by tackling health issues and socioeconomic factors facing the youth.

During an Indaba on Adolescent Pregnancy, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel revealed that in the period 2024/25, 117,195 girls aged 10–19 gave birth. Nel also emphasised the importance of children knowing they cannot legally give consent to sex at the age of 12.

Earlier this year, the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness revealed that children as young as 11 years old are finding themselves in their maternity wards, while the Education Department confirmed their school drop out numbers were largely due to teen pregnancies.

Christmas babies with teenage mothers

The Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities has called for intensified efforts to prevent adolescent pregnancy after more than 30 teenage mothers gave birth in public hospitals across South Africa on Christmas Day.

Chikunga called on teenage boys and girls, parents, educators, communities and social partners to intensify efforts to prevent adolescent pregnancy. She said adolescent pregnancy continues to undermine the health, education and future prospects of young people in South Africa, and described it as a serious social and developmental challenge.

“It often results in interrupted schooling, increased dropout rates, limited economic opportunities, and heightened vulnerability to poverty and gender-based violence,” she said.

The MEC was speaking at the Thelle Mogoerane Hospital in Vosloorus on Thursday, where she also handed out gifts to some of the mothers of babies born on Christmas Day.

Nkomo-Ralehoko said the department has worked hard to try to bring the numbers of teenage pregnancy down. She added that the department is working with the justice system to ensure that underage mums who are victims of statutory rape get justice.

She said the strategy has seen teams going into schools across the province to conduct workshops and educational programmes. She added that the strategy also utilised youth-friendly health services, offering counselling, testing and reproductive care without counselling.

"Since we implemented the strategy we have seen the numbers drop immediately in the province and we have strengthened our primary health care services, we have youth zones in the clinics."

She added that in January these educational programmes will commence.

What the Northern Cape can learn

What Northern Cape stakeholders can take from the Gauteng update is a practical framework to interrogate: Are schools being visited with consistent, structured workshops? Are clinics set up in a way that teenagers will actually use them? Are there clear pathways for justice when underage mothers are victims of statutory rape?

For parents, educators, and community leaders, the takeaway is to treat adolescent pregnancy as a shared responsibility that requires coordinated action across schools, clinics, and families. 

For government and health authorities, the key question is whether youth-focused services are accessible and actively linked to school-based education programmes, and whether safeguarding and justice referrals are clear, trusted, and used.