Teenage pregnancy is a national crisis, warns deputy minister

Steve Letsike, deputy minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, has warned that teenage pregnancy is not only a health issue but also a threat to South Africa’s social fabric and future prosperity.

Speaking at a high-level stakeholder engagement in Pretoria, Letsike said there were over 90 000 pregnancies recorded among girls aged between 10 and 19 in 2024, with more than 2 300 of these cases involving girls between 10 and 14.

“To call this alarming would be an understatement. These are children, some barely in their teens, some not even teenagers, now forced into motherhood,” he said.

He stressed that a child as young as 10 becoming pregnant was not just a statistic but a tragic societal failure and, in many cases, the result of criminal acts.

“This crisis threatens the foundation of our social and economic development. Teenage pregnancy poses a serious threat to the health, rights, education and socio-economic well-being of girls,” he said.

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The deputy minister explained that teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, face reduced job prospects, and become trapped in poverty – a cycle that perpetuates inequality.

“In other words, today’s teen pregnancy is tomorrow’s poverty and inequality. We must recognise this as not only a public health issue but a social justice emergency.”

Letsike added that the crisis is linked to a range of broader societal issues, including child sexual abuse, statutory rape, HIV and STI rates, gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), poverty, substance abuse and harmful cultural narratives.

“To craft effective solutions, we must honestly confront how and why so many young girls are getting pregnant,” he said.

Deputy ,inister in the Presidency Nonceba Mhlauli echoed these concerns, saying the numbers reflect deeper socio-economic issues and require an urgent, coordinated response.

“These are not just numbers. Teenage pregnancy is more than a health crisis – it’s a national emergency. Government cannot do this work alone,” she said.

Mhlauli called on all sectors of society, including parents, educators, faith-based organisations, civil society, media and the private sector, to unite in safeguarding the future of South Africa’s children.

Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency, Asanda Luwaca, also addressed the engagement, calling teenage pregnancy an injustice rooted in systemic failures.

“It is about gender inequality, poverty, exploitation, broken family systems, absent accountability and a dangerous silence that protects perpetrators more than it protects girls,” said Luwaca.

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She emphasised the importance of implementation, saying South Africa already has policies and frameworks in place.

“What we need now is unapologetic implementation across every level of society,” she said.

The stakeholder engagement is part of a national initiative to establish a Roadmap to South Africa’s Teenage Pregnancy Prevention and Management Response.