Teenage pregnancy in the province has become a major concern, as the rate has skyrocketed in some municipalities.
The OR Tambo district municipality leads for the second consecutive year, with 1,269 teenage pregnancies reported.
Other areas with a high teenage pregnancy rate in the Eastern Cape from January to March 2023 are Alfred Nzo district municipality with 681, Nelson Mandela Bay municipality (506) and Chris Hani district municipality (489).
The age of consent in South Africa is 16, meaning that any girls who fall pregnant before that are automatically regarded as the victims of statutory rape unless the victim is older than 12 and the partner is also a minor. A teenager below the age of 16 having sex with someone who is below the age of 12 can also be charged with statutory rape.
In 2021, the Department of Basic Education compelled schools to report the pregnancies of underage girls to police.
The department also changed the Employment of Educators Act so that a teacher found to have had a sexual relationship with or sexually abused a pupil, they are to be banned from teaching for life.
The project manager of non-profit organisation Bumbingomso, Mancane Futhwa, said the main causes of teenage pregnancies were a lack of parental supervision, a lost sense of moral responsibility and the lack of long-term contraceptives.
“There are a lot of young parents who raise children on their own,” Futhwa said.
“They leave them behind to work, and the children seek attention elsewhere, which is where they get involved in these problems.”
He said there were cases where teachers abused their positions and were sexually active with minors.
“There are situations where teenagers do not disclose who impregnated them because they are scared, or they are bribed financially,” he said.
He said some teenagers looked for a sense of belonging in the wrong places, which made them take uncalculated risks to satisfy the need to fit in.
“The clinical issue is that we still have a big problem in teenagers accessing health services, especially for family planning, as clinics are overwhelmed by the number of people they have to serve.
“We need campaigns at government level that drive the issue of long-term contraceptives.
“Contraceptives should always be available, especially for teenagers.”
Masimanyane Women’s Rights International founder and director Dr Lesley Ann Foster said there was a lot of inequality and disrespect towards children.
“Society needs to become more conscious; we have to build the agency of young women,” Foster said.
“We need to teach them to know their rights.”
Foster said teenagers who gave birth tended to drop out of school, lacked maturity to raise a child and did not have the resources to do so.
The Mbhashe sub district health report flagged problems with pregnant teens between the ages of 10 and 19.
The figures got worse as time went by — statistics from Mbhashe indicated that during the 2022/2023 financial year, from April to March, health facility deliveries were up 19.5% and youngsters aged from 10 to 19 accounted for the bulk of unwanted pregnancies.
Provincial health department spokesperson Yonela Dekeda said the department continued to implement various strategies to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies.
She said they were introducing youth zones.
“The aim is to have youth zones at all our facilities where the youth are attended to by relevant staff at an agreed time,” she said.
“Youth zones are meant to create a conducive environment for young people to access services and openly interact with healthcare providers, without feeling [they are being judged].”
Dekeda said some other strategies involved a memorandum of understanding with institutions of higher learning for easy access to emergency tablets and family planning on campus.
Dekeda said the department had dedicated teams conducting awareness campaigns in various parts of the province.
Provincial education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the focus of the department was on conducting prevention and awareness campaigns.
School managers and school governing bodies were also capacitated on policies that tried to address pregnancy in schools, Mtima said
“Also, comprehensive sexuality education is taught as part of life orientation and life skills — there is a pilot scheme on this programme to expose learners to more insight and skills to avoid early and unintended pregnancies.
“We also have peer education clubs where issues are addressed through learner groups,” he said.
On Thursday, the Dispatch team visited eMfaneni village about 10 kilometres from Dutywa in Mbhashe local municipality.
Most young expecting mothers are from one school, namely Bonkolo Senior Secondary School, in the village.
The Dispatch tried to visit the school, but was denied access by the principal.
The team drove around the village and spoke to residents about the high rate of teenage pregnancy.
Two elderly women spoke to the Dispatch.
“I have an 18-year-old pregnant granddaughter who is now in grade 12,” one said.
“She lives with me and my other grandchildren. We have no choice, but support her, as she does not have anyone else.”
She said her granddaughter had been abandoned by her biological mother, who left when she was a newborn.
"She put her in a cardboard box and left. We took her in because she was our child too as she is my son’s daughter.”
The other concerned grandmother said young girls in the village were not well informed about family planning, and there were not enough awareness campaigns for young people to learn from.
“These children do not want to go to the local clinic in Dutywa and get a contraceptive.
“I do not know what they are taught at school regarding family planning.
“I am illiterate so I was relying on the school to teach them what is best for their lives.”
“I am concerned about my granddaughter, because we rely on my pension grant to buy food, so it is going to be difficult when the baby arrives, as we will have to buy more things for the baby,” she said.
The Dispatch spoke to two pregnant teenagers who are pupils at the above mentioned school.
The first one, a soft-spoken expectant mom was wearing her school uniform.
“I live with my parents. I found out I was pregnant after four months. I was petrified to tell my family, because they are strict.
“I feel I am a disappointment to them, but I appreciate their support, as they advised me to not terminate the pregnancy,” she said.
There are more than 10 pregnant pupils at the school.
“I want to complete school and study to become a social worker,” she said.
The other pupil was already at home, doing her regular chores.
She found out at two months that she was pregnant. Her grandmother was the first person to realise that she was expecting.
“My grandmother had so many questions about my sudden weight gain, I could not hide it any more, so I told her. At first the family was upset with me, but now they are supportive.”
The six-month pregnant woman said her aunt had offered to take care of the baby when it arrives, while she carries on with school work.
She said they were not allowed to sleep over at school after winter classes, due to their pregnancy, so they have to walk home in the dark.
Both teenagers said they had to sacrifice a day of school to go for their regular check-ups.
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