High teen pregnancy numbers are a worrying phenomenon
An increasing number of young girls are falling pregnant in Mpumalanga.
This revelation comes a few weeks after Gauteng revealed alarming stats that 23 000 girls under 18 had given birth between April 2020 and March 2021 in that province.
Lowvelder Express learned that a number of young girls from various parts of the province had fallen pregnant and given birth in recent months.
According to the CEO of Themba Hospital, Dr Thembi Matsinhe, the Nsikazi region had recorded 64 teen pregnancies in a space of nine months.
She said some of the pregnancies had come from 1 080 cases of gender-based violence reported to the hospital from various parts of the region.
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“What is more saddening is the repeated cases of the victims. You find that one had been sexually assaulted about four times. Much as we encourage victims to open cases with the police, there is still interference from their families and in-laws. And some end up withdrawing those cases. “In a space of nine months, we have seen worrying statistics of underage pregnancies coming from rape cases and the like. But we as the Nsikazi area were the lowest compared to other regions in the province.
“In the past week we delivered three babies of three 13-year-old mothers. As government we have the right to open cases against these perpetrators, but in most cases we found in the files that the perpetrator is the next of kin.”
Matsinhe said some sustained injuries while delivering babies. She added that there were cases opened with the police and some of the minors became property of the state. She called on political and local leaders to play their part in positioning and championing themselves in fighting against gender-based violence in communities. Alpheus Nhlabathi, the chairperson of the Creative Workers Union in the province, said artists should fight teenage pregnancies through their art.
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“Are South African artists not contributing to teenage pregnancy with our artwork? In Mpumalanga I urge artists to come out and organise campaigns that will fight teenage pregnancy. Let’s protect our children at all costs by teaching them what is right from wrong,” he said.
Nhlabathi said artists should take the responsibility and educate youngsters to make informed decisions.
“Let us do the right thing so that we don’t blame ourselves in future for doing nothing to save the situation. Most youth and even children recognise us as their role models, celebrities and doctors of souls. We must respect them in our public performances and mind our language. I would appreciate seeing more artists condemn such social ills that affect our society,” he said.
At the time of going to press, the spokesperson for the provincial health department, Dumsani Malamule, had not responded to a media enquiry regarding the total provincial stats of young girls who had fallen pregnant at the start of the lockdown last year to date.
