JOHANNESBURG - “A child of ten does not need better pregnancy services. She needed better protection long before she ever arrived at a maternity ward.”
These are the piercing words of Action Society national spokesperson Juanita du Preez, who reacted to the Western Cape childbirth statistics over nine months.
According to recent statistics by the Western Cape Department of Health, nearly 300 girls aged 10 to 14 gave birth in the province between April and December 2025.
This figure not only sent shock waves to the anti-gender-based violence organisation, but has also exposed an accountability gap, Du Preez said.
“Every child's pregnancy is a protection failure. These are not ordinary teenage pregnancies. These are children giving birth," she said.
According to Du Preez, pregnancies involving children this young often point to sexual abuse, grooming, coercion, exploitation, or other circumstances where adults have failed in their duty to protect a child.
READ | Concern over new year births by teen moms
As such, she argued that the cases should not be treated only as a health matter but should trigger a criminal investigation that involves law enforcement, social workers and health authorities.
Du Preez said while she recognises laws in the country that regard sexual activity involving children of a young age as a criminal offence, she questioned the effectiveness of the child protection systems
“These figures are deeply disturbing. What do they tell us about the effectiveness or lack thereof of South Africa's child protection systems, including legislation? Is it failing?
“Children should know that they are safe when they need to speak about something like this. They should recognise when something like this happens to them that it is wrong."
She said now that Western Cape had revealed how many children were born, it now owes the public another number: How many perpetrators have been brought to justice?”