Call to decisively address older men impregnating teen
KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane said South African law defined statutory rape as any sexual activity with a person under the age of 16, and makes the reporting of such cases to law enforcement mandatory.
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane has called for an urgent, open, and collaborative dialogue to decisively address the disturbing pattern of older men impregnating underage girls.
Simelane said the discourse would need to involve parents, traditional leaders, civil society, and government stakeholders because the practise constitutes statutory rape under South African law.
The health department was invited to the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa Ministers’ Wives Retreat at the Selbourne Golf Estate in Pennington last week, where Simelane expressed concern over the growing number of teenage and child pregnancies, particularly those involving adult men.
She described it as both a health crisis and a social justice emergency that requires urgent intervention.
“We are worried about the large number of children who are falling pregnant. Some stop accessing healthcare and social services once they realise that we are legally required to report the perpetrators. In many cases, this is done to protect breadwinners or due to informal agreements between families. This puts young girls at high risk, especially when they are forced to give birth in unsafe conditions,” she said.
Simelane said South African law defined statutory rape as any sexual activity with a person under the age of 16, and makes the reporting of such cases to law enforcement mandatory.
The MEC emphasised that clinics and hospitals are required by law to report all suspected cases of statutory rape.
“We need to deal with this matter head on. Unless we talk about it and act decisively, we will continue to see young lives destroyed. We are raising a broken generation if we remain silent,” she said.
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