DA’s Helen Zille Applauds Limpopo Government for Arresting Man Accused of Impregnating 13-Year-Old

• The Democratic Alliance's Federal Chair, Helen Zille, saluted the Limpopo Premier, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, for nabbing a man who had a baby with a teenager
• The 13-year-old gave birth on Christmas day, and the father of the child, a 28-year-old, was arrested
• Zille expressed concern that teenagers giving birth has become normalised, and many agreed with her

With nine years' experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a current affairs writer for Briefly News, provided insights into the criminal justice system and high-profile cases in South Africa at Daily Sun.

JOHANNESBURG — The Democratic Alliance's (DA) federal chair, Helen Zille, welcomed the arrest of a man who impregnated a 13-year-old girl in Limpopo. The teenager gave birth on 25 December 2024, and the South African Police Service arrested the baby's father.

What Zille said about teenager giving birth

Zille posted on her X account @helenzille that many young teenagers are giving birth these days, so much so that it has become a norm. She slammed children for having children and called on the men impregnating children to be incarcerated. She praised Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba for criticising health workers who protested the fathers by not reporting the births.

Read also

28-year-old man nabbed after 13-year-old gives birth, Limpopo Premier vows charges won't be dropped

Limpopo man arrested

The 28-year-old father of the child the teenager gave birth to was arrested after the 13-year-old gave birth at the Seshego Hospital in Polokwane. The hospital reported the matter, and the South African Police Service arrested him shortly afterwards. Ramathuba promised that the case would not be withdrawn.

What happens to teenage moms: Zille

"If a child has a child, they will both be permanently trapped in poverty. The fathers usually disappear. The mother's schooling ends, and so do her life's prospects. Unless we reverse this moral collapse, our country has zero chance of succeeding," she said.

View the tweet here:

The Department of Home Affairs in 2021 revealed that 688 children as young as 10 years old gave birth in South African hospitals. It showed that over 100,000 teenagers gave birth in that year.

SA agrees with Zille

Read also

570 babies born on Christmas Day in South Africa, 13-year-old Limpopo girl among 5 teenage mothers

South Africans commenting on her tweet shared their views.

BornQueen said:

"Our country is a mess. We keep failing the children because we, the adults, are immature, dysfunctional and immoral."

No context SADC said:

"These men deserve to be tracked down and punished."

YourServant said:

"A very welcome development."

Tindzeft said:

"The moral fibre of our country is eroding at an alarming rate."

FighterRakgadi said:

"Poverty is driving black families to do bad things."

10 teens give birth in Limpopo in 2023

In a related article, Briefly News reported that 33 women, including a 15-year-old, gave birth on Christmas Day in 2023 in Limpopo. Phophi Ramathuba, the province's then-health MEC, revealed that 10 of the new mothers were teenagers.

Ramathuba called on law enforcement agencies to apprehend the fathers of the teenagers. However, South Africans were not empathetic to teenage mothers.

"A 15 year-okld having a baby gets no congratulations from me," one netizen said.

Source: Briefly News