Kwazulu-natal: KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli has unveiled a new multisectoral strategy aimed at tackling the root causes of early pregnancy through prevention, protection, and accountability measures.
According to South African Government News Agency, the strategy was launched this week at Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre in the Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipality. The Multisectoral Strategy to Curb Child and Teenage Pregnancies (2025-2029) outlines six key pillars to guide implementation across government, communities, and civil society.
The comprehensive strategy focuses on six pillars for prevention, protection, and accountability. These include empowering youth with knowledge about sexual and reproductive health and their rights; coordinated, integrated youth support programmes across all sectors; protecting and supporting pregnant teens to remain in school and access healthcare; strengthening community capacity to prevent abuse and exploitation; actively involving boys and young men in prevention and positive behaviour change, and ensuring perpetrators face swift justice, including prioritised convictions for statutory rape and abuse.
Ntuli described child and teenage pregnancy as a ‘direct threat’ to the province’s future, warning that it undermines efforts to fight HIV/Aids. It also limits access to education and deepens cycles of poverty.
‘The statistics reported between April and December last year revealed that 26 515 girls aged 10 to 19 fell pregnant, and 1 254 of them were 14 years old and younger. When children become mothers, society has failed them, and allowing this crisis to persist will rob the province of future leaders, innovators, and change-makers.
‘A young girl who falls pregnant faces increased risk of contracting HIV. This is not only a health crisis but a social and economic one that steals potential and destroys futures,’ Ntuli said.
The Premier said the strategy was developed through extensive consultations across all 11 districts, including community dialogues, government departments, researchers, frontline workers, and development partners.
‘This plan belongs to the people of KwaZulu-Natal, built from community insight and a strong demand for urgent action,’ he said.
Ntuli also issued a stern warning to adults who prey on children, stressing that ‘sexual activity with anyone under 16 constitutes statutory rape and must result in imprisonment’. He condemned harmful practices where families accept compensation from abusers instead of reporting them.
Ntuli further called for collective action across all sectors. He said government must integrate its services, and law enforcement must ensure justice is delivered swiftly. He urged traditional and faith leaders to lead moral accountability, and for civil society, youth-led organisations, and the private sector to expand their interventions, adding that frontline workers must continue serving with compassion and resilience.
‘This strategy demands coordination, compassion, and courage. The time for talk-shops is over,’ he said.
The Premier concluded by reaffirming the province’s commitment to achieving zero pregnancies among children, and a significant reduction in teenage pregnancies across the province.
‘Let us go forth and build a safer, healthier, and more prosperous future for every child in KwaZulu-Natal,’ he said.