Teen pregnancy makes young girls more vulnerable to GBV and poverty

Mapaballo Borotho

Civil society organisations have called for teenage pregnancy to be treated as a national crisis amid rising numbers of underage births across South Africa.
Activists warn that romanticising teen pregnancy worsens poverty, school dropouts and exposes young girls to gender-based violence.
Government has urged parents, schools and communities to strengthen education, dialogue and youth development programmes to curb the crisis.

In South Africa, 33% of young girls who become pregnant are forced to drop out of school completely, making them prone to social ills such as poverty, unemployment for most of their adult life, and Gender Based Violence (GBV).

Civil society organisations have called on relevant government departments and members of the public to start treating teenage pregnancy as a national crisis, as the number of underage pregnant girls continues to rise.

“In 2025 alone in Mpumalanga, 9,712 teenagers, including a 14-year-old child, reportedly gave birth on New Year’s Day. This shocking reality must not be celebrated or normalised under the banner that ‘children are gifts from God.’ This is not a blessing to celebrate; it is a crisis that demands urgent action,” said Forum for South Africa (FOSA) leader, Tebogo Mashilompane.

The Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal also reported an alarming number of underage girls giving birth in 2025, further proving that teenage pregnancy is a growing and deeply rooted problem across the country.

Mashilompane said society must stop romanticising teenage pregnancy, noting that it is one of the factors that destroys the future of young girls, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds.

“South Africa cannot afford a society where children give birth to children as if it is acceptable or admirable. The social, educational, health, and economic consequences are devastating,” Mashilompane added.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, emphasised that teenage pregnancy makes young girls more vulnerable to poverty and gender-based violence, which has been declared a national disaster.

“Teenage pregnancy remains a serious social and developmental challenge. It often results in interrupted schooling, increased dropout rates, limited economic opportunities and heightened vulnerability to poverty and gender-based violence,” Chikunga said in a statement.

She called on parents and members of the public to create safe spaces for open and honest conversations with young people, while schools and community structures strengthen life skills education and youth development programmes.