Recent data from the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness states that the Western Cape, including the Cape Winelands region, is facing a rise in pregnancies among adolescents and young women aged 10 to 19.
In the Cape Winelands statistics show 1 711 adolescents and young women gave birth in 2024-’25, compared to 1 649 in 2023-’24 and 1 341 in 2022-’23. This is a 26,66% rise over the past three financial years.
“Several factors may be contributing to this trend, including gaps in reproductive health knowledge, limited access to health-care services and broader social and economic influences,” stated a press release from the Department of Health and Wellness.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) data, however, differs from that of the Department of Health and Wellness, which has recorded a significant decline in pregnancies among adolescents and young women.
This discrepancy may be attributed to the fact that WCED data reflects only cases reported to the department, excluding unreported pregnancies, school drop-outs and adolescents who are not enrolled at school.
Reasons for rise in pregnancies
A social auxiliary worker at ACVV Wellington, formerly stationed in Porterville for four years, observed that adolescent pregnancies are prevalent, especially in farming communities such as Porterville’s.
Having joined the ACVV Wellington only five months ago, she had yet to gather data on adolescent pregnancies in this town, and therefore Porterville was used as a case study.
She attributed boredom as one of the reasons for the rise in adolescent pregnancy.
“They are bored on the farms, and do not know what to do in their spare time, so they experiment sexually.”
Additionally, in farming communities, families often live in small, single-room homes where adolescents are exposed to parental intimacy, which may influence their desire to experiment.
Adolescents are typically sexually active from age 16 and become pregnant due to lack of contraception, the social worker said.
While these pregnancies could be prevented many adolescents avoid visiting clinics and mobile clinics, which provide contraception, to evade probing questions from adults or peers.
Another contributing factor to rising adolescent pregnancies is that parents view it as a “taboo” topic.
This lack of open conversation leaves adolescents uninformed, compounded by schools often failing to address the issue adequately.
“They [adolescents] have a lack of role-models,” the social worker said.
When becoming sexually active adolescents also engage with men over age 18, leading to cases of statutory rape.
The social worker added that adolescents also become pregnant after sexual abuse from someone close to them, which she estimated could account for up to 60% of the cases she oversaw in her four years in Porterville.
When social workers are referred by clinics or hospitals to support these adolescents they encourage them to open cases of both statutory and non-statutory rape at the police station.
However, adolescents and their families often withdraw these cases, as they rely on the father’s support in raising the child.
The social worker suggested that combating the rise in these pregnancies could be achieved through collaboration between schools in disadvantaged communities and local social workers, focusing on awareness campaigns and adolescent support.
Paarl Post also reached out to the Provincial Department of Social Development about the primary causes of the rise in pregnancies among adolescents and young women, but received no answer.
It elaborated on programmes it has launched to educate and support these girls, which include psycho-social support and referrals to additional appropriate services.
This includes the Parent-Infant Intervention Home Visiting Programme, which supports vulnerable pregnant and first-time mothers at high risk of neglect, abuse or abandonment.
It offers mental health support, positive parenting skills and early childhood development through initiatives such as the Thula Sana Programme and Parenting Worx. The Perinatal Mental Health Project provides counselling and support for pregnant teenagers at risk of mental illness.
The youngest figures obtained by the WCED is that of the 2023 Annual School Survey (ASS), a data collection process conducted by the WCED to gather information on various aspects, including pregnancies.
According to the 2023 ASS, which includes data on learners who became pregnant in 2022, a total of 1 602 pupils were recorded as pregnant in the Western Cape, with 197 cases reported in the Cape Winelands District.
Bonagh Hammond, a spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), stated that while protocols exist to support learners who are reported to be pregnant, including engaging with the learner’s family, the school curriculum also provides guidance on reproductive education.
According to Sandra Maritz, spokesperson of the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, “14% of adolescents who give birth are school leavers at the age of 19, 13% being teenagers under 19 years of age [in the 2023-’24 period]”.
