Alarming statistics revealed by the Eastern Cape Department of Health showed that 4,000 female children and teens had given birth in the province since April this year.
Eastern Cape Health spokesperson Mkhululi Ndamase said a total of 4,055 gave birth at public health facilities.
The majority of the girls - 3,961- were aged between 15 and 19, while 94 were aged between 10 and 14.
Ndamase said: "Whenever underage girls give birth at our facilities, they are asked who impregnated them. They always say it’s boys their age."
He said contributing factors to the teenage pregnancies were revealed during a dialogue conducted by the Department of Education and the Department of Social Development with parents, learners, educators and school governing bodies (SGB) in the Alfred Nzo District, and Ingquza in the OR Tambo district.
He said various factors that contributed to the high number of pregnancies included:
“Lack of adequate parental care, support and supervision, lack of factual education around sexual reproductive health, alcohol abuse, peer pressure and gender-based violence.”
National spokesperson for the Department of Health, Foster Mohale said between April 2023 and March 2024, a total of 2,716 girls between the ages of 10-14 years, and 119,586 girls between 15-19 years became mothers in the country.
In addition, he said that 1,226 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 terminated their pregnancies, while a further 19,246, aged 15-19 years, also had abortions at public health facilities.
The Department said they were implementing Youth Zones which would make it easier for the youth to access health facilities without having to wait in queues.
In the Western Cape, 286 children, and 9622 teens gave birth.
jolene.marriah@iol.co.za