South African government opens probe as country produces youngest mum in 2025

The South African Department of Health (DoH) says it has opened an investigation in the Eastern Cape after a 12-year-old girl gave birth to a baby on the first day of the year 2025.

According to the DoH, a total of 653 babies were born across South Africa by 5 pm on January 1, 2025, with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal recording the highest numbers at over 200 and 185 births respectively.

However, the department expressed concern over the increasing number of teenage mothers, including the 12-year-old from Frontier Hospital in the Eastern Cape, who delivered a healthy baby.

Health MEC Ntandokazi Capa has directed the health department’s head to deploy a team of officials, in coordination with other government stakeholders, to investigate the matter.

“The department is however concerned with teenage girls who continue to be counted amongst these mothers, including a 12-year-old mother who delivered a healthy baby in Frontier Hospital in the Eastern Cape,” the DoH said in a statement.

This investigation follows a similar incident in Limpopo, where a 28-year-old man was arrested for allegedly impregnating a 13-year-old girl.

The man faces charges of statutory rape and sexual grooming of a minor. The girl had revealed the abuse to her aunt after complications arose, and subsequent medical tests confirmed she was eight months pregnant. She gave birth to a baby boy on Christmas Day.

The Department of Health is urging families and communities to assist health officials and law enforcement agencies by reporting suspected cases of sexual abuse and rape, especially involving minors.