‘A disgrace for the black nation’ – KZN MEC concerned at 26 515 teen pregnancies in eight months

KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane raised concerns about teenage pregnancy in the province.

• KwaZulu-Natal recorded 26 515 teen pregnancies in eight months.
• Nomagugu Simelane made a plea for parents to be more hands-on in raising their children.
• She said what was happening was a disgrace and that it was unacceptable for a 17-year-old boy to sleep with a 13-year-old girl.

In February this year, Statistics South Africa data showed that 90 037 adolescents aged 10 to 19 had given birth from March 2021 to April 2022.

The report further revealed that of the almost 34 000 teenage pregnancies in 2020, 660 were girls under the age of 13.

Simelane said: 

She made a strong plea for parents not to surrender their responsibility, but to be more hands-on when raising their children.

“We can talk until blood comes out of our eyes, but if we, as parents and guardians, don’t take responsibility for raising our kids properly, nothing will ever change,” she said.

“It is a disgrace that, in this community [Amajuba], we have seen more than seven school-going children falling pregnant in April and May. This is not [only] a government disgrace, but a disgrace, parents, for us, as the black nation, because such things are only happening in the black community,” Simelane said.

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She said it was simply unacceptable for a 17-year-old boy to be sleeping with a 13-year-old girl.

“We should never allow such things to happen. Government is not there when those things happen, and will not come into your house. Get into your room and separate under-age kids who are having sex,” Simelane said.

She reiterated her call for young people to abstain from sex and instead focus on their education, while those who could not abstain were asked to at least practice safe sex and use contraceptives.