JOHANNESBURG - New figures from Statistics South Africa are raising alarm over teenage pregnancy.
More than 100,000 babies have been born to mothers aged 19 and younger since January last year, with the issue resurfacing over the festive season.
In the Eastern Cape alone, 21 babies were born to teenage mothers on New Year’s Day.
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CEO of Joburg Child Welfare, Abubakr Hattas, says the numbers point to systemic failure, not individual choice.
"There is a need to separate peer-to-peer behaviour, meaning consensual sex among peers, versus cases that raise serious concern, such as child sexual abuse, coercion, and potentially exploitation of young girls," he said.
Hattas says the answer lies in implementing mandatory child protection reporting of underage pregnancy.
This, he says, is not about criminalising behaviour by young teenagers but rather referring such cases so that children are not victims of exploitation.