Zuko Komisa

Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities, Steve Letsike, issued a stark warning this week regarding the alarming rate of teenage pregnancies in South Africa, declaring it a profound threat to the nation’s social fabric, moral well-being, and future prosperity.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement in Pretoria aimed at tackling this persistent issue, Letsike emphasised that teenage pregnancy is “robbing too many of our girls of their childhood and their future.”
He called for a united effort from all sectors of society to reverse the trend.
The Deputy Minister revealed deeply concerning statistics for 2024, stating that over 90 000 pregnancies were recorded among girls aged 10 to 19. Even more alarming, 2328 of these pregnancies occurred in girls between the ages of 10 and 14.
Point of View with Phemelo Motene spoke to Deputy Minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike about these shocking deeply concerning statistics.
Listen to the conversation here:
Letsike also connected the high incidence of adolescent pregnancy to a complex web of societal challenges, including high rates of HIV and other STI infections, child sexual abuse, statutory rape, gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), poverty, educational exclusion, substance abuse, and even harmful elements within popular culture.
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