Mayor unable to attend teen pregnancy indaba

The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Mzwandile Masina, called an indaba for parents, teachers and members of various school governing bodies from around Ekurhuleni to interact with the municipality to find ways to prevent teenage pregnancy.

The indaba was held on Friday at the Springs Town Hall but the mayor could not attend as planned.

This is after the Department of Basic Education in Gauteng released the shocking statistics that 4 446 school girls fell pregnant in the province last year and the City of Ekurhuleni was the worst affected region in the province, with 1 289 expectant learners.

Health worker Thembani Masina says, “We have teenager-friendly medical rooms where even the nurse is a young person who understands and would be able to relate to the learners.

“We are still facing a challenge where they don’t want to use the facilities because they are shy.

“We regularly host workshops and campaigns trying to educate them about the dangers that come with falling pregnant at an early age.

“It is unfortunate that we are not allowed to distribute any contraceptives or condoms in schools.

“We also teach them to practise dual protection, because using contraceptives only prevents unplanned pregnancies, but not life-threatening STIs,” she says.

Community leader Nontsha Nciza says teenage pregnancy should not be blamed only on parents.

“There are a whole lot of other issues that lead these young people to experiment with sex at an early age.

“The recent statistics of young women who were raped and killed by their loved ones shows that we have a big problem on our hands.

“Some of these girls might have fallen pregnant after they were raped by their uncles, stepfathers, and priests,” she says.

“We should explore all possibilities so we would be better armed to fight [teenage pregnancy] with facts.

“Pointing fingers and only blaming parents for not being open with their children about sex is not enough,” she says.

Teenager Angela Malaza says teenagers are taught about sex and teenage pregnancies daily in schools, on TV programmes and know better.

“They know what is right and what is wrong but they still continue to experiment with sex because of pressure from their peers,” she says.

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