NW Premier orders statutory rape probe after teen gives birth

North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi chairs the last sitting of the Coordinating Council in Klerksdorp on December 18, 2024.

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North West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi has ordered an investigation into possible statutory rape, after a 16-year-old gave birth at one of the local health facilities at Kagisano Molopo Local Municipality.

It has been established that the teenager was 15-years-old when she conceived.

Upon further investigations it was revealed that this was her second pregnancy, as she gave birth to her first child at the age of 14.

Mokgosi visited the Joe Morolong Regional Hospital in Vryburg to welcome New Year babies, where he expressed concern over cases of teenage pregnancy in the province.

Mokgosi says a multifaceted approach is needed to attend to this social ill and that action must be taken against individuals who violate children.

He says, “What we have concluded is that the investigation must be started and completed by the social worker who’s attached to the ward, and once we establish factually, that statutory rape has been committed, we have instructed them that the law enforcement must take place.”