It isn’t normal: thousands of girls under 16 getting pregnant, and mounting evidence that many statutory rape cases aren’t even investigated has triggered a human‑rights complaint demanding a single national tracking system and real accountability.
The glaring problem
The DA has asked the South African Human Rights Commission to force government departments to create a single, cross‑departmental tracking system after what the party calls evidence of a nationwide collapse in reporting and prosecuting suspected statutory rape.
The DA’s complaint, lodged this week, and its dossier revealed at a media briefing on Friday, argues that failures by health workers, social workers, police, and prosecutors mean many suspected crimes , often first revealed when a girl under 16 presents pregnant at a clinic, are never recorded, investigated or prosecuted.
The party wants the SAHRC to declare the neglect unconstitutional and to order a unified data‑tracking framework with accountability measures for officials who fail to act.
“The data shows a catastrophic systemic state failure that leaves South Africa’s most vulnerable children unprotected,” DA spokesperson on Women, Youth and People with Disabilities Angel Khanyile told reporters.
“When a girl under 16 becomes pregnant and presents at a clinic, a social worker’s office, or a police station, it is evidence of a serious crime. Yet in far too many cases, reporting and criminal investigation do not begin.”
What the DA found
- The party’s dossier cites thousands of adolescent births in 2023/24, including 2 716 births to girls aged 10-14, and claims 798 deliveries and 279 abortions among girls 10-14 in the first half of 2025.
- KwaZulu‑Natal received more than 2,100 Form 22 notifications, yet the Department of Social Development reportedly logged zero statutory‑rape cases with the SAPS.
- In the Eastern Cape, 396 girls under 14 gave birth between April and September 2024, but only 16 of those cases were referred to police, the DA says.
- The party also points to court and policing gaps: about 1,900 statutory‑rape cases have been abandoned by police and prosecutors since 2021, and some 143,000 forensic DNA samples remain unprocessed in state labs.
DA MPs called these figures proof of a breakdown in coordination between the Departments of Health, Basic Education and Social Development, the SA Police Service (Saps), and the National Prosecuting Authority.
“We need mandatory cross‑departmental data integration, specialised training, and urgent audits into why so many cases result in no police action,” said MP Lisa Schickerling.
Government response and context
SAPS says it has intensified efforts: the police reported arresting 15 888 suspects for crimes against children over the past year, with 2 773 convictions.
Acting Deputy National Commissioner Hilda Senthumule reminded the public that statutory rape is a crime against the state and that families cannot legally withdraw such cases, citing pressures such as pay‑offs and intimidation that undermine prosecutions.
In the Eastern Cape, Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa said births among girls aged 10-14 have declined from over 550 to fewer than 300 in three years, and teenage births (15-19) have fallen from about 17 000 to below 14 000.
Capa said any pregnancy under 16 remains a “serious crime” and that departments are working “closely with law enforcement to ensure perpetrators are held accountable.”
Just last week, the police portfolio committee’s chairperson, Ian Cameron, also echoed these shortcomings.
Acting deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Lieutenant General Hilda Senthumule said that fear of social stigma often keeps victims and their families silent, particularly high-profile families desperate to avoid public shame.
Deputy Police Minister Polly Boshielo said, “Normally, some people don’t even report it because it involves a minor.”
“What is the government doing? Because these kids, those who are pregnant, are encountering all these government institutions that are not doing anything about it,” EFF MP Leigh-Ann Mathys asked.
Why the DA wants the SAHRC involved
The DA wants the SAHRC to investigate systemic reporting failures, find the ongoing neglect unconstitutional, and compel the state to implement a unified tracking system that follows a Form 22 report from notification through criminal investigation and prosecution.
The party contends that without integrated data and enforceable accountability, suspected perpetrators will continue to evade justice.
Next steps
The SAHRC has received the DA’s complaint.
The commission can investigate, hold hearings and make binding recommendations to remedy rights violations.
The DA says it will push for urgent action while continuing to publish its findings about reporting gaps and backlogs that it says are denying children protection and justice.
