Northern Cape MEC for Education, Zolile Monakali, says the province is recording high numbers of teenage pregnancies, with the rural district of John Taolo Gaetsewe (JTG) in Kuruman at the top of the list.
He took the launch of teenage pregnancy prevention campaign to the affected district urging learners not to become part of the statistics.
Monakali says an average of approximately 900 learners in the province fall pregnant each quarter and are between the ages of 10 and 19.
“Statistics indicate that the Northern Cape province is amongst the highest provinces with teenage pregnancies. We have the lowest number of learners but we rating among the highest province with the levels of teenage pregnancies,” says Monakali.
“The reason why we decided to launch this program in JTG from all the other districts is because JTG is number one with teenage pregnancies. We have just received the stats from the Department of Health and those statistics are unacceptably high. We are are here to talk to our learners not just the girl child but also the boy child,” adds Monakali.
