By Levy Masiteng

The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and Takealot have partnered to bridge the gap between education and employment by offering industry-relevant skills training and e-commerce business opportunities to young people, through the Takealot Township Economy Initiative.

The signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding between the DHET and Takealot took place at Takealot in Kempton Park on Wednesday.

During the ceremony, both organisations said the partnership aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the digital economy.

Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mimmy Gondwe, said that the initiative has four main initiatives. The first was the adoption of three TVET colleges near its distribution centres in Kempton Park, Durban, and Cape Town, to provide students with work-integrated learning opportunities and industry experts to support curriculum development.

The second initiative included an expansion of Takealot’s bursary programme. Gondwe said her department will match the funding, thereby enabling more students to access education, particularly in high-demand skills areas such as ICT, logistics, and e-commerce retail.

Gondwe said that Takealot will also use its logistics and delivery network to ensure timely delivery of textbooks to students across various campuses, nationwide.

The fourth initiative involves the township economy, whereby the partners will support township entrepreneurs and small to medium-sized enterprises to participate in the digital economy, providing training, funding, and access to Takealot’s platform.

Takealot CEO Frederik Zietsman said the company employed 7,500 people, supported 33,000 livelihoods, and hosted 50,000 sellers on its platform.

“[W]e empower multiple more people to earn a livelihood and to have careers within our ecosystem,” Zietsman said.

Gondwe said that staff and students will benefit from mentorship, career guidance, and volunteerism from Takealot employees, and that more importantly, Takealot will extend free access to online learning resources, offering a global college catalogue of skills training directly to students.

Gondwe also emphasised the importance of public-private partnerships in addressing the country’s high unemployment rate.

“Today’s MoU builds on our Takealot Township Economy Initiative agreements in Mpumalanga and Gauteng and now takes them national, with clear roles, measurable outcomes, and shared accountability,” she said.

Zietsman highlighted the company’s commitment to using e-commerce to improve lives.

“Our purpose statement is truly our conviction. We live day in, day out, with the conviction of using e-commerce to change lives in South Africa for the better.”

The Takealot Township Economy Initiative aims to create 20 000 new opportunities by 2028.

Zietsman said Takealot had already supported over 130 TVET learners through work-integrated learning programmes and has a “Yes for Youth” programme that supports over 120 learners and graduates.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thebe Mabanga

Trailblazing academic and sector policy expert Jeanette Mosia is a focused, deeply spiritual mother of two who uses her success not only to uplift her family but also to show young people that their background does not define their future.

Her latest accomplishment is to finish top of her class in the Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA) at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), in a programme funded by the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA).

Her life mantra, displayed as her WhatsApp status is: “Distraction leads to deception, deception leads to dislocation, dislocation leads to disruption.”

It is taken from renowned evangelist Bishop Dale Bronner’s sermon and means that if you are distraction from your purpose, it can lead you to be deceived by life’s temptation and once dislocated from your path, it can ruin your life, career, and family life.

“For me it highlights the importance of having a stubborn and resolute focus regardless of what life throws at you.” says Mosia.

“ What looks like a small distraction can lead you into a negative chain, you can easily entangle yourself in a web that you do not know how to get out of.”

It is this single-minded determination that allows her to juggle her work as a programme manager at the Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) in Pretoria, running her ministry with her husband, Bonngwe Mosia, whom he credits for support and running their household with two small children and juggling studies which following the PDBA, now involves taking on an MBA in October.

The fourth of five children and the first to graduate in her family, Mosia was born in Makhubung village outside Mahikeng in the North West.  

After completing her high school in Mmabatho, she studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she obtained a BSc in Construction Studies in 2008, followed by an Honours the year after and an MSc in Project Management in 2012.

For the CETA funded programme, she was alerted by a friend and former colleague and promptly applied for a four-month International Executive Development Programme.

It was literally while undergoing orientation in April 2024 that she learnt that she will be doing a yearlong programme that requires her to attend class one week every month.

Mosia, 39, believes this was divine intervention as she may never have agreed to such a commitment willingly given her work and ministry.

She has now seen it through with flying colours.

She notes that her favourite part of the program was doing immersion in Dubai, Shenzhen in China and Hong Kong as these gave her firsthand experience of how other countries do business and transform cities as well as the value of strong leadership and commitment to development.

CETA funds such programmes to help build leadership not just for the South African built environment but for the broader corporate sector.

“My goal when I joined the programme was  to facilitate my transition from technical roles to more strategic and executive roles and I am ready for it.” says Mosia.

Mosia says between a full-time job, studying, raising small kids, and co-leading a church ministry with her husband, she does not get to have much time left to herself.

The two activities that “ignite her soul” are ballroom dancing, which she has not done in years, and completing a road race, which she cannot do consistently but compensates for it with daily walks.  

She has time to occasionally read for pleasure and counts John Maxwell as among her favourite authors for his bible centered philosophy on leadership.  

CETA, with its aim to provide skills development services to the construction sector and implement the objectives of the National Skills Development Strategy, plays a crucial role in ensuring that the construction sector is equipped with the critical and scarce skills necessary for economic sustainability and global competitiveness.

The CETA officially entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in 2024 to foster collaboration and strengthen the South African construction and built-environment sector.

In terms of the MOU, Gibs will design and deliver specialised learning programmes tailored to the needs of professionals within the construction sector.

These programmes span from entrepreneurial development to executive leadership development programme, and engage in thought-leadership, research, and skills planning.

CETA chief executive Malusi Shezi says the construction Seta aims to train 120 women to occupy key positions within the construction industry.

“We have made it clear that 60% of the beneficiaries of the international executive development programme is women. This was to ensure that women occupy key positions within the construction sector, which was traditionally dominated by men, says Shezi.

“We did not want a situation where companies would say we are not hiring women because we cannot find them. We have now made it possible for them to put women in key executive positions. We made sure we increase the pool so that there is no reason for companies not to transform. Women deserve to be given opportunities.”

Professor Morris Mthombeni, dean of GIBS, says collaborative partnerships with institutions such as CETA hold immense value “as they enable us to collectively develop innovative solutions for the skills challenges facing our nation.”

INSIDE EDUCATON

By Thapelo Molefe

Parliament has urged parents of foreign national learners to exercise vigilance amid warnings that Operation Dudula activists could attempt to block children from accessing schools on Wednesday.

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Education, Sciences and the Creative Industries, Makhi Feni, said the committee was deeply concerned by social media posts suggesting the group intended to disrupt schooling.

“We condemn this conduct from Operation Dudula activists, and we call on them not to distract school operations. Learning time is of essence and especially this close to preliminary and final examinations,” Feni said.

He called on the Department of Basic Education to implement measures to safeguard schools and ensure that any individuals who threaten learners are held accountable.

Operation Dudula, known for previous illegal demonstrations at healthcare facilities, has not publicly confirmed the planned action but has faced criticism for targeting foreign nationals in various sectors.

The group’s organisational leader Zandile Dabula, recently announced that Operation Dudula will launch a larger campaign at the end of December, continuing into January 2026, aimed at preventing foreign children particularly those without legal documentation from enrolling in public schools in South Africa. 

Dabula said members of the movement would be stationed at schools to enforce the policy.

Civil society organisations have condemned the plans. Equal Education (EE) and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) argue the proposed campaign violates the Constitution and a landmark High Court ruling affirming the rights of all children in the country to basic education, regardless of documentation status.

The issue of foreign nationals in South Africa, especially undocumented migrants, has been contentious for years, sparking protests, policy debates and tension over access to limited resources such as housing, healthcare and education.

Feni warned that any attempts to block access to schools could traumatise young learners and escalate into broader criminal activity. 

“These violent actions have the potential to be such a traumatic experience for young children and must be stopped. The uncoordinated activism by Operation Dudula is a concern, and could likely be hijacked by criminal elements,” he said.

He further appealed to principals to remain vigilant and to prioritise the safety and welfare of learners under their care.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

As Johannesburg gears up to host the G20 Summit later this year, the city’s creative heartbeat was on full display with the launch of Babize Bonke, a bold new campaign by the Jozi My Jozi movement.

Staged along the inner-city Main Street walkway, the launch showcased art, music, and stories of resilience from local champions who are reshaping Johannesburg from the ground up.

Among the eight champions celebrated in the campaign is Dr. Taddy Blecher, education pioneer and CEO of the Maharishi Invincibility Institute.

Inside Metros reached out to the pioneer, who described the Babize Bonke platform as a chance to connect Johannesburg’s revival directly to improving security in the area and opportunity.

“Johannesburg has always been a place of resilience and reinvention. The world will be watching us later this year. What we need to show is that Joburg is not defined by its problems but by the creativity, compassion, and determination of its people. Campaigns like Babize Bonke prove that,” Blecher reflected.

Blecher’s contribution to the campaign is rooted in the philosophy he has carried for decades: that transformation is not only about physical infrastructure, but about human capacity.

The campaign emphasises making the invisible visible.

For decades, he has been giving a platform to young people from backgrounds where talent often goes unnoticed.

Many of his institute’s students come from households with little or no income, yet graduate with globally recognised qualifications, entrepreneurial skills, and employment opportunities.

This follows the launch of the Security Mastery Academy (SMA), a partnership between the Maharishi Invincibility Institute and CAP Security launched last year; which seeks to professionalise the security sector while simultaneously creating opportunities for young people to play a direct role in Johannesburg’s regeneration.

“This academy is about mastery on two levels. On one level, we’re training consummate professionals who can meet the demands of a sector critical to South Africa’s safety and stability. On another level, we’re helping individuals achieve personal mastery through holistic training, from martial arts to stress management, from leadership skills to Transcendental Meditation,” Blecher said.

The programme is structured over three years, moving from security officer training to supervisory and commander levels.

Graduates are guaranteed employment, ensuring that the pathway leads not only to skills but to livelihoods.

Jozi My Jozi has broadened its scope with a series of initiatives designed to restore safety, dignity, and opportunity across Johannesburg’s inner city.

Through the Light Up Jozi campaign, the movement is raising R300 000 to install solar-powered lights in darkened areas, expanding on the successful revitalisation of the Nelson Mandela Bridge with plans to add solar panels along key corridors.

This work ties into broader efforts to repurpose derelict buildings for job creation, open arts and reading spaces for children, and establish technology centres offering coding, robotics, and AI training for youth while providing adult skills development during the day.

Partnerships with schools are central to identifying safety concerns, career opportunities, and sport facility needs.

Early Childhood Development (ECD) is another critical pillar, with Jozi My Jozi working alongside the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and the Education department to register and upgrade under-resourced centres in the inner city and Soweto.

The aim is to bring them up to Bronze Level standards, unlocking government funding and creating sustainable environments for children and educators.

By strengthening ECD infrastructure, the initiative seeks to empower communities and ensure that young learners receive the foundation needed for future success.

At the same time, Jozi My Jozi is addressing homelessness through collaborations with NGOs such as MES, U-Turn, and the Johannesburg Homeless Network.

This includes renovating shelters, piloting containerised housing solutions, and launching a citywide “Point in Time Count” to establish accurate data on Johannesburg’s homeless population.

Together, these efforts reflect Jozi My Jozi’s community-driven vision of a safer, revitalised Johannesburg that balances immediate social challenges with long-term sustainable growth.

With the G20 Summit set to spotlight Johannesburg in November, initiatives like these demonstrate

As Jozi My Jozi continues to rally businesses, communities, and creatives under its “coalition of the doing,” Blecher sees these initiatives as demonstrating how civil society and business are stepping up to redefine the city’s story.

INSIDE EDUCATION

The KwaZulu-Natal Transport Department has announced a province-wide clampdown on unroadworthy scholar transport vehicles after a crash on Monday in Impendle left at least 20 learners injured.

MEC Siboniso Duma said traffic inspectors, working with municipal authorities, would be tasked with removing reckless drivers and unsafe minibuses from the road.

Duma confirmed on Tuesday that the driver involved in Monday’s accident had been arrested. He was found to hold only a learner’s licence and no Professional Driving Permit (PrDP), in violation of the National Land Transport Act.

“In KwaZulu-Natal, there are many unroadworthy vehicles used in private scholar transport,” Duma said. “We will remove from our road networks reckless drivers who are behind the spike in accidents that have destroyed families and cut short the lives of innocent people.”

Last week, a school taxi crashed into a crèche in iMbali, Pietermaritzburg, leading to the deaths of five children. Eight others were injured.

The latest accident occurred when a minibus taxi carrying learners aged between eight and 15 plunged off the KwaKhetha Bridge in Impendle. The children were taken to various healthcare facilities, where some are still recovering.

Spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya said the department would also hold urgent talks with the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in the province to address the increasing number of accidents involving scholar transport.

In addition, the department will partner with the Vehicle Testing Association, part of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation, to strengthen roadworthy checks. All minibuses will be tested at accredited municipal or private testing facilities, aligned with their designated route permits.

“The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport remains committed to prioritising the safety and well-being of all learners across the province,” the department said in a statement.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Across the African continent in 2025, a quiet revolution is roaring to life, and it hums with the sounds of servo motors, sensor data, and student laughter. The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) competition has taken root in schools from Zimbabwe to Nigeria, South Africa to Uganda, building a movement that’s not just reshaping how kids learn, but redefining why they learn.

And it is gaining more traction. Ministries of Education, embassies, universities, and global partners like Google, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Endeavour Foundation are investing in this grassroots momentum, recognizing that the future education – and innovation – might just look like a table full of buzzing wires and bright ideas.

More than a Tech Competition
Each year, WRO invites students from around the world to imagine, build, and compete, all through the power of robotics. It starts in classrooms: robotics workshops and bootcamps unfold across schools, where students form teams and begin designing robots that respond to the year’s theme – this time, “The Future of Robots.” In some countries, regional events pave the way to national finals. Then, the top teams earn the chance to represent their country on the global stage in Singapore in November, alongside young peers from over 90 nations.

In Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, WRO Bootcamps have reached schools across the country, introducing coding, AI, and engineering principles through play and challenge-based learning to hundreds of students – including those from underserved and special needs communities.

“Every robotics bootcamp is a window into what’s possible when learning becomes active, inclusive, and tech-driven,” says Valentine Masicha, WRO Country Coordinator for Uganda with Mindset Coders. “In these sessions, students aren’t just tinkering with robots; they’re building confidence, learning to collaborate, and solving real-world problems with code and creativity.” For many, it’s their first time seeing how STEM can be relevant to their lives and community.

Mentorship in Motion
In each participating country, the excitement is just as palpable among the coaches who are at the heart of the WRO experience.

“Gone are the days when teachers simply delivered content”, says Victoria Nxumalo, WRO Country Coordinator for Zimbabwe and founder of Girls in STEM Trust. “WRO is revealing what relevant, future-facing education looks like in real-time: a shift from instructors to co-creators — mentors guiding discovery with courage.”

Google mentor, software engineer, and WRO lead mentor Andrew Muriithi couldn’t agree more. His thing? Train WRO coaches to accompany students from their first brainstorming session all the way to proudly representing their country at the WRO International Final. “Mentorship isn’t about having all the answers. It is about walking the journey with someone. You grow just as much as the mentee does,” says Andrew.

He continues: “Start messy, learn fast. A mentee once asked me, ‘When do I know I’m ready to build real projects?’ My answer: You don’t. You just start. And remember that every expert you admire started with broken apps and endless errors.”

This evolution mirrors global shifts in education. The World Economic Forum’s 2023 “Education 4.0” agenda singles out mentorship, creativity, and adaptable problem-solving as foundational skills in an AI-first world. Meanwhile, UNESCO’s 2024 AI Competency Framework outlines 12 essential AI competencies for students – ranging from ethical reasoning to system design – with the goal of preparing learners to become responsible, human-centered co-creators of AI.

By introducing robotics, coding, and AI as tools for collaboration and creativity, WRO is creating safe spaces for experimentation and failure – and that’s where real learning happens.

“WRO is the perfect launchpad for hands-on, trial-and-error learning,” Andrew explains. “In a world shaped by AI, it’s not just about getting it right. It’s about learning how to rethink, rebuild, and keep going. The problem-solving mindset these young people develop is exactly what the future needs.”

Meet the Makers: A Winning Team Up Close
In Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, one WRO team captured the attention of judges, diplomats, and tech leaders alike.

Team FutureSight, winners of Zimbabwe’s National Championship in the Senior category, developed an AI-powered voice assistant for the blind. This smart, voice-controlled tool helps visually impaired users with daily tasks like reading, object recognition, and navigation. But what makes it truly special is its localisation: the team is adapting it to support local languages, ensuring accessibility for users who are often left behind in global tech developments.

“We wanted to build something that mattered,” said one team member. “Something that could make life better for people around us, not just win a trophy.”

This truth echoes in research, too: African youth often innovate with their community in mind, not a market. They consistently prioritize social impact over profit, seeking to solve real-world challenges like food access, clean energy, or equity in education (HSRC, 2024). This African mindset of ‘profit for purpose’ aligns powerfully with the spirit of WRO, where every robot tells the story that true innovation is transformational, not just transactional.”

With Africa’s workforce and innovation agenda at stake, Google and UNECA teamed up in 2024 to accelerate WRO’s spread across the continent, as Bahta Mamo Bekele, UNECA Program Coordinator and National Coordinator for WRO in Ethiopia, explains: “The WRO’s approach is fundamentally about building a vibrant African innovation ecosystem from the ground up. It empowers young people to tackle their communities’ most pressing challenges with their own hands and minds, giving them a voice that resonates far beyond their schools and cities. At the UNECA, we are witnessing this digital upskilling in action. It is inspiring a new generation of problem-solvers who are ready to own their narrative and shape the continent’s future.”

A New Era of Hands-on Learning
A growing body of educational research (e.g., OECD Future of Education 2030, Harvard Project Zero) confirms that interdisciplinary, collaborative, and values-based learning better prepares students for AI-rich futures than traditional subject silos.

More than a robotics competition, WRO is the new blackboard, the new lab coat, the new field trip. It becomes a testing ground for the kind of thinking machines can’t do: empathy, ethics, adaptability, and purpose. Yes, kids learn to code. But more importantly, they learn to connect ideas, people, and technology in meaningful ways.

“This is where education truly meets innovation in its truest form, robotics challenges becoming the new interdisciplinary classrooms, where math, science, and language meet creativity, cross-cultural teamwork, design thinking, and resilience. The skills forged here aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re essential in an AI-powered world,” says Karen Bebelaar, WRO Program Manager.

And WRO Africa isn’t just nurturing future engineers, although it does that too. It is cultivating a generation of ethical innovators, systems thinkers, and global citizens who can lead with both skill and conscience.

Inclusion as a Power Engine
The smiles beaming from the Jangwani and Benjamin Mkapa schools in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania are spreading more good news backed by peer-reviewed evidence: educational robotics is a power mix of fun that significantly supports cognitive, social, and emotional development among learners with special needs.

A 2025 scoping review of 33 peer-reviewed studies confirmed significant gains in cognitive, emotional, and social development among learners with special needs engaged in robotics-based learning. One 2023 ERIC-reviewed study even showed that just eight weeks of robotics lessons led to improved mental planning and group interaction for children with Down syndrome.

But robotics isn’t just bridging gaps, it is opening new frontiers. Students with special needs actually help redefine what innovation looks like, their lived experiences bringing essential perspectives often missing from mainstream tech design.

“When children with disabilities build, code, and compete, they bring new ways of thinking to the table. Their contributions go beyond inclusion: they challenge design norms, foster empathy among peers, and drive user-centered innovation,” says Eva Shana, WRO Country Coordinator for Tanzania at the University of Dar es Salaam. Recent studies in inclusive tech design even highlight that co-creating with learners who have disabilities leads to more accessible, socially attuned technologies for all (GSSRR, 2023).

What’s in a WRO?
Far more than they imagined back in 2004, for sure.

What started as a robotics contest has evolved into a launchpad for equity, creativity, and human-centered innovation. In 2020, only 5 of the 90 participating countries were African. Last year, thanks to the unwavering support of partners like Google, UNECA, Irish Aid, Endeavour Foundation, Camden.education, and a growing network of local changemakers, 9,000 young people across 14 African countries took part in WRO activities – and with momentum building, even more are expected in 2025.

In Nigeria, strategic partnerships with state ministries and institutions are mainstreaming robotics across schools nationwide. The impact? Over 2,000 teachers trained and more than 20,000 young people from all walks of life engaged in WRO 2025.

“With WRO, students, coaches, and experts alike are being prepared today for the challenges of tomorrow. More than a competition, WRO is a launchpad raising solution-driven young people who can think differently, innovate locally, and function globally,” says Abisola Obasanya, WRO Nigeria National Organiser.

Some 4,000 miles further south, the sentiment is shared by WRO South Africa National Organiser Danie Heymans, who has just wrapped up 13 Provincial WRO events with Township Robotics, bringing key 21st-century skills to schools in historically underserved areas.

“In a world racing to automate, quantify, and scale, these fearless, ready-to-learn youth with their purpose-driven mindset remind us what real innovation looks like. And it looks a lot like Ubuntu*,” concludes Heymans.

*Ubuntu is an ancient African word rooted in humanist African philosophy and can be roughly translated as “humanity to others”, or “I am because we are”. It comes from the Zulu proverb “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, meaning “a person is a person through other people”.

The story was first published by World Robot Olympiad (WRO)

At least 20 learners were injured when a minibus taxi transporting them plunged off the Kwakhetha Bridge on the P127 road near Mpendle in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Monday.

The passengers, aged between 8 and 15, sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious, but all survived the crash.

It is alleged that the taxi, carrying learners from different schools in the area, veered off the road and plunged several metres down the bridge.

Residents rushed to the scene and worked with emergency services to ensure the children received immediate care.

The injured were first taken to Gomane Clinic, before being transferred to Harry Gwala Regional Hospital (Edendale Hospital) for further treatment.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma confirmed that the taxi driver fled the scene.

“Most disturbing is that the driver disappeared, and law enforcement agencies are looking for him,” Duma said.

“Learners are from Matomela High School, Luthando High School and Sthunjwana Primary School. They have been taken to Gomane Clinic and Harry Gwala Regional Hospital (Edendale Hospital). Unfortunately, this is the third accident involving a school learner transport in Umgungundlovu District within four days. Four learners died on Thursday, and others are still in the hospital.”

Duma said the department has called on the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in KwaZulu-Natal to urgently convene discussions with taxi associations over the recurring accidents involving scholar transport.

According to the Automobile Association estimates, 70,000 minibus taxi crashes annually, with taxis experiencing double the crash rate of other passenger vehicles.

“I wish to announce that we have resolved to form a partnership with the Vehicle Testing Association (VTA). The association is a member of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) and represents the private vehicle testing stations involved in the testing and issuing of roadworthy certificates in terms of the National Road Traffic Act and SABS 10047,” said Duma.

“We have agreed to work together to isolate elements that are operating vehicles without roadworthy certificates and to ensure that those issuing fraudulent certificates are arrested.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johnathan Paoli

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has called for urgent empowerment of social workers, health workers, and caregivers to report cases of statutory rape, as alarming new statistics reveal that tens of thousands of school-age girls in the province fell pregnant in 2024. 

DA Gauteng leader and official opposition leader Solly Msimanga said the figures underscored a growing crisis of child sexual abuse and statutory rape that is being ignored by authorities and too often normalised in communities. 

“Statutory rape is a serious violation, and men who commit such a crime inflict lasting harm on a vulnerable individual. The failure by law enforcement agencies to take action against men who commit this offense is deeply troubling, as it compromises the principles of consent and respect, leaving young girls vulnerable to predatory individuals who have lost all sense of morality,” Msimanga said. 

According to data disclosed by Gauteng Health and Wellness MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko in the provincial legislature, 23,691 pregnancies were recorded among girls between the ages of 10 and 19, last year. 

Of these, 18,851 resulted in deliveries at public health facilities, while 4,840 were terminated. Disturbingly, 521 of these pregnancies involved girls between the ages of 10 and 14.

While pregnancies among learners are rising, police reports of child rape and statutory rape are falling.

Gauteng’s Clinical Forensic Medical Services and Thuthuzela Care Centres recorded 474 cases reported to the South African Police Service in 2022/23, 257 cases in 2023/24, and just 242 between April and December 2024. 

Msimanga said the discrepancy pointed to a breakdown in enforcement of Section 110 of the Children’s Act of 2005, which obliges teachers, healthcare workers, social workers, and caregivers to report suspicions or evidence of child sexual abuse. 

“The failure to act enables predators to continue abusing children, while families are sometimes bribed into silence. This not only protects perpetrators but entrenches a culture of impunity,” he said. 

The Gauteng Health Department’s statistics highlight that the problem cuts across the province. 

Johannesburg recorded 7,245 cases of teenage pregnancy, followed closely by Ekurhuleni with 6,893, and Tshwane with 5,752. The West Rand and Sedibeng recorded 2,014 and 1,787 respectively.

The DA has requested further data on which schools reported the highest numbers of learner pregnancies and how many girls who gave birth managed to return to school. 

However, Inside Education reached out to the Gauteng Education Department who admitted it does not keep such records. 

Msimanga cautioned that poverty and inequality fuel the problem, with transactional sex between older men and vulnerable girls increasingly common. 

In some cases, families accept money or goods in exchange for silence.

The DA is demanding that the provincial departments of Education, Health, Social Development, and Community Safety collaborate more effectively to equip and empower social workers, health professionals, and caregivers to report statutory rape to SAPS; ensure all reported cases are promptly investigated and prosecuted; provide education to girls that reinforces their right to refuse unwanted sexual advances, even from adults in positions of authority; and strengthen partnerships with parents and community leaders to create safe environments for children. 

Msimanga added that the DA will also push for answers on the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and HIV among the affected age group. 

The DA’s Gauteng intervention is part of a broader national probe into the child pregnancy crisis.

DA Social Development spokesperson Alexandra Abrahams recently revealed that in the Eastern Cape, 117 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 gave birth between April and July 2025, while 4,752 teenagers aged 15 to 19 delivered babies during the same period.

“These figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Pregnancies that end in termination or miscarriage, or those that go unreported, make the true scale far greater,” Abrahams said.

The DA cited the reported drugging and sexual assault of learners from Khomani Primary School in Diepkloof earlier this year as proof that some incidents occur beyond the direct oversight of teachers and parents. 

Msimanga said a DA-led administration would ensure that professionals are trained to enforce the Children’s Act, statutory rape cases are properly investigated and prosecuted, and schools are staffed only with vetted teachers and officials.

INSIDE EDUCATION