Protecting minors: Severe penalties for predators required

It is, frankly, horrifying, to realise that the rate of births among girls aged under 14 in South Africa is soaring.

The South African Medical Journal says these increased by nearly 49% from 2 726 to 4 047 between 2017 and 2021.

While many people are focusing on these teenage pregnancies and the implications for the girls later on in their lives, or even referring to the girls lightly as “gymslip mums”, there is a far more serious issue which must be addressed.

Any child – and a girl under 14 is just that, not only legally, but emotionally, too – who is getting pregnant at such a young age is frequently the victim of rape.

The law puts it simply that no person under the age of 16 can give consent for sexual relations. Anyone guilty of coercing a minor into such acts is guilty of statutory rape.

We agree with Build One South Africa (Bosa) which has been campaigning to have statutory rape taken much more seriously than it is.

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However, according to the organisation’s deputy leader, Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, their pleas for figures on prosecution for the crime had fallen on deaf ears in the criminal justice system.

Bosa also wants public access to the National Register for Sexual Offenders. At present, there is restricted public access which, says Bosa, “allows perpetrators to evade detection and accountability.”

Sadly, though, poverty is also a major driver in young girls turning to “sugar daddies” to help themselves and their families.

These are the men who should also be singled out and shunned by the community because they are nothing less than predators.

When these men are found to have impregnated girls younger than 16, they should be prosecuted and punished severely.

Unless there are serious consequences for such behaviour, then rapists will continue to thrive within our society.

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