A case has been opened against the man who impregnated a 14-year-old girl, one of the mothers who gave birth on New Year’s Day.
This follows intervention by the Manzini Social Welfare Department.
Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO) Marcelia Dlamini confirmed that social workers moved swiftly to ensure the matter was formally reported to the police for investigation, with a view to possible prosecution.
Dlamini said investigations revealed that the teenager had been living with her father at Dlangeni, where she was also attending school. She later dropped out while doing Form I and visit her mother at Mahlabatsini in Matsapha.
The minor reportedly told her mother that she was returning to her father but she never did.
Instead, she is said to have lived with friends around Matsapha, during the time she was reported missing. Her mother enlisted the assistance of community police to help locate her. It is said it was during this period that she met the father of her child and the two reportedly cohabited until she fell pregnant.
Dlamini alleged that the relationship later turned violent and following a dispute, the minor returned to her mother’s home where she stayed until she gave birth. Dlamini said statements were recorded with the police at the Manzini One-Stop Shop with the view to have the matter pursued until prosecution of the perpetrator. On another note, she mentioned that the social welfare department would assist the 14-year-old mother to return to school and restart Form I.
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“The department plans to enrol her in the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programme and further engage her father to contribute towards her education,” she said.
The 14-year-old was among five mothers who delivered newborns at Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital on January 1.
She was the youngest mother.
She gave birth to a baby girl she named Sinenhlanhla Dlamini.
Perpetrators
When asked about the father of the baby shortly after giving birth, the young mother declined to comment, saying the matter had already been addressed through other channels.
Previously, Dlamini had stated that impregnating a minor was a crime.
However, she expressed concern that some healthcare workers failed to report such cases to social workers which hampered investigations that could lead to the prosecution of perpetrators. She explained that this reluctance often stemmed from legal provisions requiring patient consent, even in the case of minors before information could be shared with third parties.
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Dlamini said the provisions were not fully aligned with the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act (CPWA) of 2012, which classified pregnancies in young girls as cases of statutory rape.
She further noted that in many instances, teenage mothers withheld information about the men responsible for their pregnancies out of fear that they would be arrested.
In some cases, families also opt to resolve such matters privately at family level rather than through the justice system.
Dlamini assured young mothers and their families that the involvement of social workers was aimed at protecting the best interests of both the child and mother. She said social welfare officers provided various options, including arrangements for the baby to be cared for by the state while the teenage mother returned to school.
Under such arrangements, Dlamini said the mother retained visiting rights and might reunite with her child after completing her education and becoming financially stable. Alternatively, if the mother feels unprepared for the responsibilities of parenthood, the baby might be placed in foster care, with the possibility of adoption by willing families.
“If the mother’s family is willing to raise the baby, they are also allowed to do so, even in cases where the perpetrator is convicted and sent to jail,” Dlamini said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Assistant Nosipho Mnguni said the police were still working on the matter and that no arrests had been made yet.
