The scale of child pregnancy in the Eastern Cape has reached crisis levels and demands urgent intervention. Between April and July last year, public hospitals in the province recorded 117 births to girls aged 10 to 14 and a further 4,752 births to girls aged 15 to 19. These figures point to a profound failure of protection for children and an escalating gender-based violence emergency.
When children are forced into motherhood, the consequences are devastating. These girls face trauma, disrupted education, long-term health risks, and overwhelming fear. In many cases, pregnancies are concealed because of stigma, violence, or a lack of adult support. When the mother herself is a child, desperation and isolation can lead to unsafe outcomes for newborns, including abandonment or dumping.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) recognises that child pregnancy, baby abandonment, and gender-based violence are inseparable failures of the same broken system. The DA supports practical and humane interventions that protect both vulnerable mothers and newborn children, including safe and legal options for relinquishing a baby without fear, stigma, or criminalisation.
Evidence from the Eastern Cape shows how government failure deepens this crisis. The provincial Department of Social Development has reported dozens of cases of baby abandonment and child abuse. These figures are compounded by systemic collapse in frontline services, where social workers are overstretched, poorly resourced, and often unable to reach high-risk communities before crisis points are reached.
The DA has introduced a national Safe Relinquishment Private Members Bill to legalise and regulate safe relinquishment, protect baby savers and safe havens, and ensure that babies are immediately placed into care and protection pathways. Criminalising desperation does not protect children. It drives unsafe abandonment further into the shadows and puts lives at risk.
I have written to MEC for Social Development, Bukiwe Fanta, requesting that they prioritise prevention and early support. This includes rapid response to GBV-linked pregnancies, accessible crisis services for children, and a fully functional social development system with safe offices, vehicles, and working equipment for social workers. These are basic requirements for child protection, not optional extras.
Every child deserves to be born into safety, and every vulnerable girl deserves protection before harm occurs. A system that only reacts after tragedy has already failed both mother and child.
The people of the Eastern Cape deserve leadership that confronts hard realities, fixes broken services, and protects the most vulnerable with dignity and accountability.