Community residents in Sefikile Village blame the tarven for the high rate of teenage pegnancy

Christinah Mogobye

Community residents in Sefikile Village blame the tavern for the high rate of teenage pregnancy

Our community is one of the communities that has experienced this problem and it has had a very detrimental effect on the future of our young ladies. My daughter’s friend is one of the teenagers who experienced this unfortunate and traumatic experience, and is still struggling to come to terms with it. Despite the support of her family and her mentor.  She had an unplanned pregnancy and it happened when she was least expecting it, and she was not using any contraceptives. That’s how she fell pregnant when she was 16 years old and doing Grade 10.

When I was a Learner Support Agent at the Department of Education and working in schools, teenage Pregnancy was one of the projects that I was doing. However, there were restrictions because their education was based mostly on authorized theory. They preferred teaching learners about abstinence and not the prevention of pregnancy. The Department of Education thinks that parents alone can manage to talk to their children about family planning.

The pregnancy problem starts in the taverns because they allow teenagers below the age of 18 years to enter. Sometimes tavern owners are deceived because children of today do not look their age, but even those that look their age are allowed to enter the taverns. In my previous post, I once interviewed the tavern owner about such negligence and she said the parents must make sure that their kids don’t leave their yards, they can’t be held responsible for parent’s negligence. I then made her aware that if something can happen, maybe a fight breaks out and the teenagers get injured she will be accountable for that. That may lead to her tavern being closed down and she arrogantly says she will cross that bridge when she gets there.

I then approached CPF for assistance and they went to that tavern to put a stop to that, their plea fell on deaf ears. The tavern owner had the nerve to say that all the cops were her friends and no one could touch her. We are just wasting our energy and I said “Let it be”, I knew that I wouldn’t give up on this as it affects our community and our children. I decided to call Mogwase South African Police Services anonymously and they told me to report the incident immediately to the CPF and they will call the cops and they will come immediately.