Times Of Swaziland: 1 109 TEEN PREGNANCIES: DPM SPRINGS INTO ACTION

1 109 TEEN PREGNANCIES: DPM SPRINGS INTO ACTION
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Stanley Khumalo on 29/04/2024 14:46:00


MANZINI – “We can’t be bystanders as teenagers are impregnated by
adults,” says the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Thuli Dladla.
Dladla was reacting to the statistics which revealed that the number of
teenagers who visited health facilities for their first antenatal care (ANC)
appointments in the last three months was 1 109. This publication, on Friday,
reported that these minors included three 12-year-old pre-teenagers, four of
them were 13 years old, 29 were aged 14 years and a total of 82 were
15-year-olds. The DPM said following these alarming statistics, her office would
consult other relevant stakeholders and establish how best the situation could
be dealt with, as there were laws in the country to deal with such acts. Dladla
said her office shall not deal with the issue in a shortsighted manner, as that
could lead to the minors shying away from public health facilities, which could
result in them losing their lives due to complications.
Disheartening
“We need a think-tank within the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice (and
Constitutional Affairs) and the police in order to come up with the best way to
deal with this disheartening issue,” said Dladla. She minced no words as she
explained that guardians and/or parents of the minors had a role to play in
identifying and bringing those responsible for impregnating the youngsters to
book. She said the parents and/or guardians at some point got to know who was
responsible for impregnating their children and based on that, it was also their
responsibility to report the statutory rape to the police. The DPM said: “This
issue is quite disturbing, as I have at some point, found pregnant underage
girls at the Mbabane Government Hospital. My biggest concern is that in addition
to the rape, some of the children are not able to return to school.”
Dladla further said laws that would permit abortion in such instances could not
be rushed to, as the key issue was to determine the cause of this act and deal
with it. The DPM emphasised that this issue was quite complicated and her office
was still brainstorming on how best to deal with it. In vernacular she said:
“Ngisayidlela ematsambo engcondvo.” This publication had sought the DPM to
establish what steps her office would take to ensure that the people responsible
for impregnating the minors were dealt with through the country’s laws. The
Health Promotional Officer in the Ministry of Health, Calvin Dlamini, was on
Friday quoted saying to record such numbers in the first quarter meant that by
the end of the year, the numbers would have increased drastically. He said last
year they recorded an overall total of 4 469 teenagers who made their first ANC
visit.
According to Dlamini, 1 179 came from the Hhohho Region, 1 073 from the Lubombo
Region, 1 156 from the Manzini Region, and 1 061 teenagers were from the
Shiselweni Region. Dlamini stated that in the past three months, from January to
March, a total of 154 teenagers aged 16 years, 228 aged 17 years old, 297 who
were 18 years old, and 312 aged 19 years, made their first ANC visit in various
health facilities. Dlamini said these age groups were not well-matured and their
organs were still maturing. He said this was a concern because they had over 1
000 teenagers whose pregnancies were at risk.
Episiotomy
He explained that 90 per cent of teenagers were not able to undergo natural
birth and needed episiotomy. When asked if they reported the cases of underage
teenagers to the police, Dlamini said they were aware of the Sexual Offences and
Domestic Violence (SODV) Act’s stance on minors, but they were faced with a
dilemma. The SODV Act, 2018, provides that the legal consenting age in Eswatini
is 18 years. According to Section 37(1) of the Act: ‘‘A person who maintains
a sexual relationship with a child commits an offence and shall, on conviction,
be liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 20 years.’’ Dlamini
explained that they were fully aware that when a minor came for an ANC visit,
they should report the matter to the police. However, he stated that taking the
legal route meant that they would be chasing all the pregnant teenagers from
seeking medical assistance.